The Department of Agriculture announced yesterday the implementation of the "Food Staples Sufficiency Program" that will be launched on July 5 during the second Agricultural Machinery Exposition at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

The FSSP interventions include production-support, enhancing incentives and enabling mechanism, and managing food consumption.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said production support includes irrigation, quality seeds, postharvest facilities and other components; while economic incentives and enabling mechanisms will focus on market reforms in palay procurement, rice distribution provision of affordable credit, and the expansion of crop insurance coverage.

Managing food consumption, on the other hand, relates to the conservation of rice and reduction of postharvest losses, and will intensify the production of other agriculture products like banana, corn and cassava.

DA Undersecretary for Operations Joel Rudinas and Assistant Secretary and National Rice Program coordinator Dante Delima led the technical team in crafting the FSSP policy document.

The program aims to produce the domestic requirement by 2013, and strengthen national resiliency through the production of food staple that would minimize the impact of climate change, Alcala said.*PNA

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