The Department of Agriculture is confident that its P72 billion proposed budget for 2013 will be supported and approved by the Senate, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Salvador Salacup, said yesterday.

Salacup, who was in Bacolod City for the opening of the 7th Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival, said P940 million will be devoted to the organic program of the country.

The budget which is P11 billion more than this year’s P61 billion, will be used to generate more productivity for the general agriculture programs in rice, corn, livestock, fisheries, fruits, vegetables, and the organic farming movement will also benefit from it, he said.

“We did our initial deliberations with the Committee on Finance headed by Sen. Franklin Drilon and they always remind us how to give good directions to manage the agriculture, and we this we are confident that will support our proposal,” Salacup said.

He also said Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala, lead author of the Republic Act 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, wants the law is to be properly supported so implementation will reach the grassroots.

Salacup called Negros Occidental the forefront and the lead province in the organic movement of the Philippines, adding that the trade fair exhibits showed the enthusiasm and passion of Negrenses for organic farming.

With Negros leading in the organic movement in the country, DA aims to involve 5 percent of the 4.2 million hectares of agricultural lands in the country or about 240,000 hectares to convert to organic farming, Salacup said.

DA will do research and development activities, training programs on organic agriculture, and marketing assistance for the farmers’ products to help them improve their production at a much lower cost, Salacup added. *LTG

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