Municipal and city agriculturists from the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union were gathered on separate schedules and venue for a consultation and assessment meeting to discuss agri program updates of the various banner programs of the Department of Agriculture and be updated on their respective province’s production performance output for CY 2023.

The meetings were held simultaneously for Pangasinan and La Union participants on March 6 and 7, 2024 at the DA-PREC, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan and at the DA-RFO I Conference Hall in San Fernando City, La Union respectively.

Marking the change in production performances in various agricultural products particularly on rice, corn, high value crops and livestock in CY 2023, the Phippine Sttistics Authority shared a report on how well each province fared in their contributions to the production growth of some major commodities of the region.

For Pangasinan, production increment were recorded for Palay at 1.04%, Corn with 0.73%, and Mango at 1.28% increase in production. However, decrease in production were recorded for Ampalaya at 3.89%, Tomato at 3.85%, Eggplant at 6.43%, and Peanut at 2.66%.

For the Province of La Union, production increment were recorded at 1.53% for Palay, 0.99% for Corn, 1.01% for Ampalaya, and 11.80% for Tomato while decrease in production were reported for Eggplant at 3.08%, Peanut at 8.21%, and Mango at 9.58%.

Meanwhile, Ms. Leah P. Coloma, Regional Rice Focal Person shared a report of the Rice Banner Program where rice production performance of Region 1 increased in 2023 with an average yield of 4.84 metric tons per hectare as compared to 2022 with an average yield of 4.68 metric tons per hectare, keeping the region as the top 4 largest contributor of rice production in the national scene with 1,990,286.88 metric tons production last year.

Corn production yields at 594,405.16 metric tons with Pangasinan producing 62% or 371,563 metric tons of the total production of the region, keeping Region 1 within the top 5 major corn producing regions in the country.

In livestock and poultry, provinces shared an increase in production of hogs by 29.06% and chicken by 5.52% in 2023 as compared to 2022 with a decrease in the production of goat by 5.26% and duck by 11.31%.

To aid production growth in livestock and mitigate the effects of animal diseases such as the ASF (African Swine Fever) for hogs, and the Avian Flu for poultry, programs such as the Unified National Artificial Insemination Program (UNAIP), National Livestock, Poultry, and Dairy Feed Enhancement Exploration and Development (NLPD-FEED) Program, Maintenance and Upgrading of Government Stock Farms, and the Animal Health Improvement Program (AHIP), are continuously implemented with expected better results for 2024.

Various programs such as the irrigation, fuel, fertilizers, and stipends were also discussed along with the requirements in acquiring said benefits implemented to help lift the weight off from partner farmers who are the backbone and reason for the different DA programs.

The Municipal and City Agriculturists Consultation and DA-Program Assessment conference is quarterly held to assess the states of the different banner programs and jointly strategize to better help farmers and fisherfolk where concerns are raised and numbers are improved for the strengthening of partnership of the Department of Agriculture with the hardworking Local Government Unit partners.