Nationwide Info Caravan To Aid Farmers With Farm Crisis
According to DA Secretary Arthur C. Yap, the info caravan aims to increase farmers’ awareness of and access to technologies and development programs designed to increase their productivity in the midst of increasing input prices.
Through the technoklinik, rice experts from the different DA-attached agencies convene with farmers to personally provide answers to their rice related problems and queries.
Since the high cost of fertilizers is currently a major issue among farmers, the info caravan emphasizes on the promotion of cost-reducing and yield enhancing technologies.
One of these technologies is the use of the leaf color chart (LCC), a simple and handy diagnostic tool to help farmers determine the amount of nitrogen to apply on their crop. “With the use of LCC, farmers can now save at least one bag of nitrogen fertilizer per hectare,” said Ms. Evelyn Javier, soil specialist of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).
MOET, on the other hand, is a simple pot experiment that tests the availability in the soil of other major nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, copper, and zinc in the soil. The info caravan is also a means, to introduce the DA FIELDS program. FIELDS - which stands for Fertilizer. Irrigation, Extension, Loans, Dryers, and Seeds - is a strategic development framework that DA is advancing to aelp realize the government’s goal achieving food self-sufficiency.
Aside from technolinks, the info caravan also exhibits and distribution of rice S&T information materials. More of its kind is underway as DA intends to implement it in most of the rice-growing provinces in the country.
