Piñol to farmers: Level up, adapt to climate change

By ANJANETTE VILLAMOR
Correspondent

AGRICULTURE Secretary Emnauel Piñol on Tuesday called on farmers to level up and keep pace with agricultural advancements so as to avoid a shortage of farm products in the coming years.

Speaking during the 3rd Climate Change and Agriculture Summit here, Piñol said climate change would eventually take its toll on agriculture productivity, hence the need for farmers and fisherfolk to widen their knowledge in handling crops, livestock and fishing vis-à-vis the threats posed by climate change.

He also emphasized the need to set up early warning systems in farming communities, an immediate recovery program, and rehabilitation, pointing out that what is at stake is the country’s food supply.

Piñol said pointed out that the country has been battered by extreme weather conditions like typhoons and dry spells that badly affected the agriculture sector, and people should learn from these experiences.

He also underscored the need to strengthen technology, financing and marketing in order to avoid post-harvest losses.

He said that in his travels across the country, he was surprised that there are still farming communities that have been left behind. In one farming community in Luzon, for instance, he said farmers asked him for only one horse in order to bring their produce to the market.

Piñol urged farmers, local governments, disaster risk reduction and climate change experts, and stakeholders to work together in formulating effective strategies, approaches, and share their experiences and lessons of adaptation and livelihood resiliency.