Agriculture

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) has expressed strong objections to the Palawan provincial government decision implementing a 50-year moratorium on new mining projects, calling it “myopic” and counterproductive. The local ordinance, passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Palawan, halts the issuance of mining endorsements, exploration permits, and mineral agreements for five decades.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted the importation ban on poultry products from France while imposing a temporary ban on imports from the US states of Indiana, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The National Food Authority (NFA) is encouraging rice farmers to take advantage of the hot weather to dry their palay, helping boost earnings through higher selling prices. NFA administrator Larry Lacson said that drying palay may incur additional costs but offers significant rewards, with private millers currently paying P20 to P22 per kilogram for clean, dry palay, compared to P15 to P17 for wet palay.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has declared Camarines Norte free from avian influenza (AI), following effective containment measures and surveillance. DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. confirmed the resolution of the outbreak, which began last December when the H5N2 strain of AI was detected on a backyard duck farm in Talisay.

The World Bank and the Philippine government are moving forward with a landmark agreement that could reshape the country’s agriculture sector. At a recent meeting, agriculture secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. and World Bank country director Zafer Mustafaoglu reviewed the progress of the Philippine Sustainable Agricultural Transformation (PSAT) loan program, with the goal of finalizing the USD1 billion loan agreement in July.