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Bato wants more fund research for root crop production

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Sherrie Ann Torres, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa during a hybrid hearing in the Senate on September 12, 2022. Senate PRIB handout/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/10/19/20220912-senate-delarosa-prib-0230.jpg"/><figcaption>Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa during a hybrid hearing in the Senate on September 12, 2022. Senate PRIB handout/File</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA—Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is batting for a more defined government policy that would fund research for more root crop production.Dela Rosa made the recommendation during Tuesday’s Senate finance committee’s deliberation of the proposed P263.8 billion budget for the Department of Agriculture in 2023.Dela Rosa noted the department has focused too much on rice production, which he said is a staple that can give diabetes to any individual.“Tingin ko &#x27;yung focus sa ating rice development doon tayo naka-focus. Totoo naman talaga, lahat tayo kumakain ng bigas … Mas marami tayo slopes compared sa flat lands. Naisip ko kasi, sige tayo sa develop sa rice. Why not develop yung substitute to rice. &#x27;Yung mga root crops like &#x27;yung kamote, &#x27;yung cassava, &#x27;yung gabi, &#x27;yung ube. Lahat naman ito ay magandang source naman ng pagkain,” dela Rosa told the panel.Unlike &quot;palay&quot;, which is very sensitive to weather, root crops can withstand even the worst climate, the senator said.He recalled his exposure to root crops that started during his childhood years, when his mother would place root crops, like sweet potatoes, in the rice that she was cooking.With the health benefits that these root crops bring to one’s health, it’s also time to educate Filipinos about its benefits, Dela Rosa said.“Akala ko noon ay &#x27;yung ginagawa ng nanay ko ay dahil sa aming kahirapan. Pero ngayong tumanda na ako, sabi ng mga health experts, sabi ng mga fitness and wellness experts, &#x27;wag ka sige kain ng rice dahil &#x27;yan ang source ng diabetes. Tapos etong mga healthy na pagkain na mga root crop, mas gaganda katawan,” Dela Rosa said.“Why not mag-concentrate tayo sa pag-produce ng root crops. Then i-educate natin ang publiko, sabihan nati ang publiko na mas healthy ito kumpara sa rice. Mas malayo ka sa diabetes dito,” he added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/18/22/rice-farmers-continue-to-struggle-with-low-selling-prices-and-high-fertilizer-cost">Rice farmers continue to struggle with low selling prices and high fertilizer cost</a></li></ul>Senate Minority Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who is also a Mindanaoan like Dela Rosa, echoed the latter’s recommendation. He inquired about the next best staple after rice.“Among the root crops, ano pong root crops ang masasabi nating bagay, the best to be produced in the Philippines?” Pimentel asked.“Kamote is one of the root crops that we are trying to propagate. The second is cassava because this is both an industrial demand and a commercial demand. Meron pa rin tayong maliliit na root ctops kagaya halimbawa ng … ube that we are trying to produce in quantity,” Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said.And while gabi or taro is also being considered as another option as rice replacement, the DA is not yet propagating any program to improve its productivity, the official said.“Kung tataya rin lang tayo sa isang root crop to propagate kamote,” Pimentel said. “Kamote is national. But the original root crops that we can propagate in Mindanao is cassava.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/18/22/villar-fumes-over-das-preferred-use-of-imported-fertilizer">Villar fumes over DA&#x27;s preferred use of imported fertilizer</a></li></ul>The DA under the new administration, according to Panganiban, has already started a program that encourages crop classification or the series of farmland use, from palay, then to be replaced by sweet potato, pechay then palay again.The Bureau of Plant Industry is spearheading the program that encourages people to plant in idle lands similar to what is happening inside the Bureau of Corrections, the agriculture agency&#x27;s executive director Gerald Glenn Panganiban said.There are also areas in the provinces that the BPI is adopting, to encourage planting, the official said.But while the DA is now promoting programs that would propagate the production of root crops, rice is here to stay as a major commodity, Sec. Panganiban said.“We cannot replace rice as a major food item for Filipinos,” he said.

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa batted for a more defined government policy that would fund research for more root crop production.

Bato wants more fund research for root crop production

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Bato wants more fund research for root crop production

Sherrie Ann Torres,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 19, 2022 06:54 AM PHT

Read More:

Bato dela Rosa

Aquilino Koko Pimentel

root crops

kamote

cassava

rice production

palay

Department of Agriculture

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