DON’T rely on the glowing press reports of solutions to the present world economic crisis. It is going to stay long.

Recall the Great Economic Depression of 1929. One of the effects was in 1934 the U.S. cut off our sugar quota from 1.4 million to only 980,000 metric tons. That was something like nearly 40 percent cut that led many planters to leave Negros and headed for Manila and Iloilo.

The U.S. Sugar Limitation Act of 1934 hit us hard.

And now it’s not only the crisis that is hitting us. Weather conditions are also adversely affecting sugar production.

The solution here is let us produce our own food. No matter what happens, as long as our people have food to eat, we can ride through the crisis. In a crisis, Negros Occidental cannot stand as strongly as the other provinces that produce their own rice.

This was what prodded the late Gov. Joseph Marañon and now Gov. Isidro Zayco. They concentrated on their food security program.

* * *

We are happy about visiting NFA Manager Pablito Gemarino. Last week we interviewed him on TV.

NFA is buying the farmers’ rice produce in preparation for the off season months to sell at a price that could stabilize the market.

Then we read that the President has signed Administrative Order No. 244 that formalizes what the President said in her State of the Nation Address that the 10 percent revenue share from the Mampalaya Project will be used to promote rice self sufficiency.

If well administered, the funds can achieve rice self sufficiency. Tragically, sticky-fingered public officials feasted on the money of the poor farmers as seen in the fertilizer scam, swine scam, and many other anomalies in government.

Putting in jail the guilty ones is the solution. Failing to do that will give ideas that the same can be repeated.

* * *

We have long bewailed the heavy importation of rice and neglecting to help local production. The country lost hundreds of billions of pesos in the rice importation which had been increasing because nothing was done much to help improve production.

Now AO 244 can be of help. But this depends on us. We have to be vigilant.

The fund from the Mampalaya Project will form part of the special fund for government projects to be directed by the agriculture department as may be directed by the President.

An initial P4 billion will be released to the Agricultural Guarantee Fund Pool aimed to facilitate the farmers’ access to credit.

We should be careful here. The Quedancor project to finace piggery projects turned into a big scam with millions and millions of funds that could not be collected.

It looks like nobody is going to jail. With no one in the swine scam jailed, expect the next group of people to do the same. But, let us be vigilant.

* * *

Today farmers have no access to credit for very many reasons. One of these is CARP. No bank will lend to a farmer with his farm as collateral. If he does not pay, banks cannot foreclose the land. And many rural banks folded up. They could not collect from farmers and could not succeed in the charges, even if the farmers misappropriated the money.

So, while I am happy with the news of credit access, I hope they will be used to build irrigation systems. This credit access might be used to fund the 2010 election. I am just voicing out the fear.

* * *

According to statistics, only about 4.2 million hectares out of the many million hectares, are devoted to rice production. This is so because rice farming is not lucrative. Government did not give it the help and farmers cannot get a better return because government would flood the market with imported rice from Thailand and Vietnam.

And out of these 4.2 million hectares devoted to rice, only 1.4 million hectares are irrigated. And even the building of irrigation projects or their repairs are so attended by irregularities.

The National Irrigation Administration took over the word in the Bago irrigation project from a Chinese contractor because it has not paid its many sub-contractors. One sub-contractor Teody Teovisio told me he still had big collectible from the Chinese firm.

We welcome this latest development in boosting rice production but I hope our public officials rally our people to be vigilant.

Remember, November has been named Rice Awareness Month. Awareness and vigilance go together.

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