Farmers must be organized, capacitated with DA extension services down to the municipal level to maximize government support--Pangilinan

FARMERS MUST BE ORGANIZED, CAPACITATED WITH DA EXTENSION SERVICES DOWN TO THE MUNICIPAL LEVEL TO MAXIMIZE GOVERNMENT SUPPORT--PANGILINAN

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan called for the strengthening and organization of farmers into cooperatives to ensure that government interventions in the agriculture sector are maximized and farm productivity is improved.

In his meeting with the University of the Philippines-Los Baños' (UPLB) executive committee last August 2, the senator emphasized that consolidated and well-organized farmer groups are in a better position to access vital government programs on financing, mechanization, post-harvest facilities, crop insurance, and market linkages.

"Ultimately, all your programs will depend on the absorption capacity of your farmer-organizations and considering how our extension services are such nearly non-existent, how will your farmers absorb the technology, the interventions when they are not organized? These are the challenges," he said upon being presented with Project SARAI, a program that aims to develop a national crop forecasting and monitoring system to counter the impact of climate change.

The senator pointed out that such government interventions will fail if farmers are not organized and capacitated.

"How do you strengthen the capacity of your farmer-beneficiaries who are the weakest link in all of these?," Pangilinan asked. "How rooted are we in the reality that farmers will not be able to--unless organized and capacitated--absorb the intervention that we hope will improve our productivity and our ability to address food security?"

The senator acknowledged the challenges in organizing farmers, which he said he had been trying to do in Alfonso, Cavite for the past three years.

He also recalled a recent visit to Taiwan, where a 45-hectare farm with state-of-the-art, solar-powered in-site cold storage facility and organic fertilizer equipment was being managed by a 24-member cooperative.

He marveled at the "grassroots" extent of government support in Taiwan, which has a population of only around 23 million, underscoring that farmer cooperatives must be in smaller groups to maximize government interventions and scale up their production.

"Unless that's the kind of outcome that we want in our interventions... again, it's the devolving of extension (services) to at least the provincial level," Pangilinan explained, pointing out that the Department of Agriculture (DA) must bring its services to farmers in the provinces.

The DA currently only has regional offices, with the senator lamenting that Region 4A (Calabarzon) is covered solely by the DA's regional office in Lipa, Batangas.

"I think the weakest link is the farmers and unless that weakest link is provided with the necessary resources to be able to get organized and capacitated, mahihirapan tayo sa mga interventions," he stressed.

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Photo Courtesy: Office of Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan
02 Aug 2025 Los Baños [Photos] - Sen Kiko

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