BACOLOD City – To boost production, sugarcane farmers have received P300 million worth, or 800 million yen, of equipment under the Japanese government’s Non-Project Grant Aid.
In a ceremonial turnover, Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, together with representatives of beneficiaries from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, officially received the donation from the Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines, Mr. Kazuhiko Koshikawa, at the SRA office in this city on Saturday, Nov. 18.
Also present during the event were Negros Occidental governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, sugar producers and other stakeholders.
“I’m especially pleased to be here today to welcome our good friends from the Government of Japan and thank them for the 80 units of tractors, 48 units of sugarcane planters, 48 units of flail mowers, and five units of power harrow—all extended under the Japan Non-Project Aid Program,” Laurel said.
According to Azcona, part of the grant agreement that was entered into by the Department of Finance (DOF) and the SRA with the Japanese government in 2021, the sugar regulatory agency will be the owner of the farm machinery and implements and will submit an impact assessment report to the DOF and the Japanese government three years after its implementation.
To ensure program sustainability, he added that the farm machinery and implements will be consigned to selected farmer groups for a fee proportional to the cost of their maintenance and upkeep.
The agriculture secretary expressed his gratitude to Mr. Jumpei Tachikawa, the first secretary and agriculture attaché at the Japanese Embassy, who has been instrumental in the program’s success.
Laurel said modernizing Philippine agriculture is the key to meeting the public’s expectations of more affordable and accessible food items.
“Our partnership with the Japanese government helps us address this concern through modernization and mechanization. Our two nations are bound by common interests. Our trading partnership, which brings greater prosperity and opportunity to citizens of both countries, has grown dramatically in recent years,” he stressed.
The department has played a significant role in evaluating, approving, and monitoring the progress of the project entitled Farm Mechanization Program for Small Sugarcane Landholders.
“Mechanization reduces hard labor, relieves labor shortages, and improves the productivity and timeliness of agricultural operations,” the agriculture secretary said.
Laurel also commended the SRA for steering the sugarcane industry toward increasing its production through small sugarcane farmers. /PN
