Permanent representatives of member states of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations paid a courtesy visit to the Department of Agriculture head office on October 30, 2018 as part of a five-day tour to the Philippines.

The said visit is regularly conducted by the delegation of the FAO based in Rome to beneficiary countries to interact, observe the impacts of their interventions, and provide sound recommendations.

The group have visited the province of Bulacan to oversee the drone-demonstration intended for damage risk assessment and disaster risk reduction strategies. They also went to Tacloban City to visit the communities supported by DA and FAO that were victims of the super typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) that struck the country in 2013.

Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol presented to the delegation the programs and direction that the DA is undertaking under his stewardship.

The programs include the farmers guide map, soil fertility map, and the food quantification study which is undertaken in partnership with FAO. Piñol also discussed the rural credit programs of the Department as well as  the establishment of roadmaps for different agri commodities, and solar power irrigation systems.

We are looking at establishing a pension fund for farmers, and developing a new farm system that will simultaneously involve fertilization and irrigation.

“I am not claiming to be the best agriculture secretary but I am a farmer. I know the problems of the Filipino farmers and I can find ways and use the extent of my power to solve them.” Piñol said. ### (Carlos Cezar Baldosa, DA-AFID)