Philippines Chamber Lauds Halt in Land-Use Conversion

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PUBLISHED ON April 27, 2008 AT 10:38 PM

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) lauds the Department of Agriculture (DA) for acting upon its proposals to post a moratorium on land conversion as a means to strengthen food security in the country.

In a presentation before the delegates of the recently concluded National Food Summit in Clark, Pampanga, Mr. Roberto Amores, Vice President for Agriculture and Food Security of the PCCI, presented three recommendations that would help strengthen food security and increase agricultural productivity to Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

First on the list is the imposition of a moratorium on the conversion of irrigated and prime agricultural lands into non-agricultural use in order to ensure food security in the long run; second is making farm land acceptable as loan collateral in order to reduce deterrents to investments in agriculture as one of the factors limiting the availability of credit for more agricultural investments is the eroded collateral value of agricultural lands; third is the granting duty-free importation of farm inputs and machineries to all agricultural producers for a period of ten years to increase investments in agriculture and reduce cost of farm production at the same time the quality of farm produce.

Last April 15, 2008, DA issued a moratorium on the processing and approval of land use conversion applications as part of the National Food Summit Action Plan.

“We are positive that the government will take our proposals seriously. More than anything else, we should all think fast and act now to ensure food sustainability today and food security for the coming days.” Amores said.

The PCCI Agriculture Committee vows to advocate for greater investments in agriculture especially on activities geared towards increasing agriculture productivity, maximization of farmers’ income, food security, and agriculture exports to contribute to the improvement of the lives of the Filipino and the economy.

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One Response to “Philippines Chamber Lauds Halt in Land-Use Conversion”

Phoenix Says:
August 5th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Grains are being bought at a low price, something 17 pesos and up, but the prices in rice is soaring high. So how about if we will just buy grains and we’ll be the one to mill it? This is to help those who have low income to purchase rice.

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