What is the problem facing Philippine agriculture? Secretary Arthur Yap announced during the food summit at the Clark Freeport that the world was under "unprecedented conditions." The world’s food inventories are at record lows amid swelling demand, climate change, rocketing oil prices and the rising use of edible crops for biofuel feedstock.

What needs to be done? One way is to adopt the plan laid out by the President that she called FIELDS: F-ertilizer, I-rrigation, E-ducation and training of farmers and fisherfolk, L-oans, D-ryers and other post-harvest facilities, and S-eeds of the high-yielding, hybrid varieties.

Since time immemorial, government’s problem in the aggie sector has been that of providing all of these things to our farmers.

The P43.7 billion is just enough for the needs of the farming sector. P500 million will go to fertilizer support from the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF), with special focus on the use of organic fertilizers; P6 billion to irrigation, with the goal of rehabilitating all irrigation systems that need to be repaired or rehabilitated by 2010; and another P6 billion for farm-to-market roads (FMRs) and other rural infrastructure like roll-on roll-off (RORO) ferry terminals.

Another P5 billion will go to training of farmers on new technologies and research and development (R&D) on how to increase yields and lower production costs. Of this amount, P2 billion will be used for R&D, and P1 billion apiece for capacity building, trainers’ training, and agriculture and fisheries education system.

The bulk of her package, or P15 billion will go to credit facilities for farmers, fisherfolk and other small rural borrowers, which is on top of the P5 billion she had earlier ordered the Land Bank to make available to palay farmers. She said that Congress would have to pass a law allowing farmers to use the Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA), issued by the Department of Agrarian Reform as virtual titles to their lands, as collateral in banks so that these farmers could have access to bank financing.

Then, there is P2 billion for dryers and other post-harvest support like storage facilities; and P9.2 billion for hybrid and certified seed production and subsidies until 2010. The aim is to plant certified seeds in 600,000 hectares this year and hybrid seeds in 900,000 hectares over the 2009-2010 period.

Never before has any government poured so much money into agriculture.

President Arroyo’s long-term FIELDS program complements her series of short-term initiatives to guarantee stable rice supply and prices amid escalating costs of the grain in the world market, such as the supervised selling by the National Food Authority of the government-subsidized stocks as well as well-milled commercial-grade stocks at P25 a kilo, the revocation of the passports of some 10,000 NFA-licensed grains traders and millers, and the crackdown on hoarders and profiteers.

Secretary Yap points out that the Arroyo administration’s ongoing efforts to insulate Filipinos from a looming global food crunch has earned the nod of international institutions like the UN World Food Program.

Valerie Guarnieri, the World Food Program’s (WFP) country director in the Philippines, said in a report that the Arroyo government has been taking the right steps to prevent a possible food crisis. In fact, she says, WFP is not overly concerned about the Philippines because it already grows 85 percent of the food it consumes. The rest of its food requirements, she notes, can easily be filled up through imports, which is "one of the best ways to prevent a food crisis."

World Bank managing director Juan Jose Daboub, said "governments needed to take short-term steps to protect the poor, but also to ensure the long term solutions were found to relieve shortages." And this is exactly what President Arroyo has been doing so far, which is to engage – in the words of Yap – in the "aggressive procurement and aggressive distribution" of rice while the government is still in the process of achieving its food security and self-sufficiency targets.

The program is unassailable. It is what agriculture has always needed and will continue to need if we are to have a measure of self-sufficiency in our food supply.

Of course, as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Considering all of the issues that have been raised about funds that were previously programmed for agriculture that may have found their way elsewhere, let’s hold judgment until it is proven that this time around, this administration is serious about helping agriculture and not the politicians who will be running for office in 2010.

What gives me a measure of hope is the fact that it was Secretary Arthur Yap who asked for the investigation that brought out many of these things that have now surfaced about previous funds allocated for the aggie sector.

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The Federation of Philippine Amateur Senior Golfers, Inc. (FPASGI) has two types of tournaments – six under the San Miguel Seniors Tour where only FPASGI members can play – and six more simply fun tournaments where the stress is more on the camaraderie and in the pure joy of playing the game.

On April 30, a fun tournament will be held at Northwoods Golf and Country Club in Bulacan. Tee-off is from 6 to 9 a.m. Members can invite other senior players who may not be members of the FPASGI. We would also like to meet the seniors of Northwoods so that we can drum up membership support for the FPASGI Northwoods Chapter.

Tickets are at P1,700 which includes the green fee, caddy fee, use of a golf cart (shared with another player) a late lunch and a few raffle prizes. Give-away will be a personalized bag tag. FPASGI members can bring along their senior friends to play in this friendship tournament.