Lake Sebu’s Municipal Agriculturist claimed that the Department of Agriculture provides farm inputs , farm equipment , farming seminars and trainings, and livelihood programs. These interventions are provided through farmers’ organizations. Free seedlings and fertilizers from the government are distributed by recognized farm organizations to their members. Farm equipment and implements such as thresher and corns heller, on the other hand, are given to the farm association and thus become communal properties of the members who are assigned schedules for use.Hence, only farmers who are members of a recognized farmers’ organization are able to avail of the government programs and support services.
There are many cases where farmers can not comply with the responsibilities and deliverables required of members and beneficiaries of government programs and assistance.For example,mobile grow rack farmers in far-flung, upland areas find it so hard to attend regular meetings and to comply with tedious reporting requirements and other protocols.Hence, not so many farmers are able to benefit from the government’s agricultural assistance program.Further, there are issues about the quality of farm inputs provided by the government.FGD participants revealed that corn seedlings from the government are not growing either because of poor quality and/or they are not suited for the soil chemistry in Lake Sebu.
The Municipal Agriculturist did not deny this claim of the farmers, but they argued that they have no control over the quality of the farm inputs as their office only depends on the provisions of the Department of Agriculture. The poor performance record of the farm inputs is another reason why many farmers in Lake Sebu are forgoing government assistance, particularly the free farm inputs program.In terms of infrastructure, five projects—three farm-to-market roads and two bridges—are soon to be completed in the Municipality as part of the Department of Agriculture’s Mindanao Sustainable Agrarian and Agriculture Development Program. These projects are expected to make the transport of farms products to market centers fast, safe and convenient, ebb and flow table thereby benefiting primarily the agricultural barangays . A look into the plight of farmers in the Municipality of Lake Sebu mirrors the conditions of low-productivity subsistence agriculture that is still prevalent in predominantly Muslim and indigenous people-inhabited areas of Mindanao in the southern Philippines due to the twin constraints on sourcing and financing of farm inputs and on marketing of produce in the absence of a link with high-value markets .These twin constraints maintain the dominating presence of the middlemen that set high input prices and low farm-gate output prices.
First is a comprehensive logistics program that will expand farm-to-market road networks up to the far-flung and upland farms in Barangay Ned. The lack of roads necessitate the use of horses and motorcycles to bring produce from the uplands to the lowlands and the lack of internal connectivity result in double handling, food wastage, and failure of product consolidation, leading to higher per unit transport and handling costs.Because of these complicated and high logistics costs, Lake Sebu farmers prefer that traders pick up their produce and do not pursue higher prices by delivering their products directly to buyers. The three roads and two bridges project must just be the start of a complete farm-to-market infrastructure program.Second is a broad facilitation program for linking farmers and markets. Small farmers struggle to access inputs and output markets. Farm produce buyers, on the other hand, are having difficulty getting the quantity and quality of the produce they need on a consistent and timely basis. Government assistance in overcoming this market failure by bringing together buyers and producers is needed. Government must also provide support for the preparation and implementation of profitable business plans.This response can include investments and technical assistance for the formation of producers’ organizations or groups and for strengthening the organizational and entrepreneurial capacity of producer organizations, if they already exist.