Year-End Report: As COVID is still around
by Administrator/CEO Robert Victor G. Seares Jr.
NOW entering its third year, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to place significant pressure on Filipino farmers. The prolonged periods of restrictions which reduced the available workforce, along with disasters and high prices for farm inputs, have resulted in production and income losses.
Despite the challenges, the National Tobacco Administration stood as a steadfast partner to nearly 42,000 farmers in their pursuit of enhanced livelihoods and opportunities, while undertaking the necessary actions and strategies to ensure the growth and development of the industry.
It keeps with the DA’s goal of attaining a “Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita.” The vision seeks to double the incomes of smallholder farmers through collective empowerment, skills development and the use of innovative technologies. Our objectives are bolstered with the alignment of our project implementation with the Department’s OneDA reform agenda to transform Philippine Agriculture.
To cushion the impacts of the ongoing crisis, we continue the implementation of the “Farmers First” policy introduced by my late father Administrator Dr. Robert L. Seares.
The agency conducted programs, projects, and activities geared toward increasing productivity and income as well as developed interventions to respond to the tobacco farmers’ varying needs amid the pandemic.
As a result, the tobacco industry remained resilient and, in many cases, thrived as in the previous years.
Also, the first quarter of the year was marked with the off-season rain (“freak rain) in January and February that hit the tobacco-growing provinces in Northern Luzon, damaging crop worth P77 million in about 1,200 hectares of tobacco farms, and affecting 4,000 farmers. The rain hit at a time when most of the crops were on vegetative stage, with crops in some areas ready for harvest early next month.
As an immediate intervention to assist farmers affected by the “freak rain,” the agency implemented the restructuring of the production assistance given to the farmers affected by the freak rains, in addition to the provision of farm inputs and livelihood assistance through its various intervention programs, such as the Gulayan at Manukan sa Barangay project.
Tobacco Trading and Regulation
Tobacco production reached 46.28 million kilos in 2021, valued at P4.1 billion. There was 5.8% decline from the 49.15 million kilos of the total production last year, mainly due to a considerable decrease (almost 45%) of Burley production in the same period.
Native tobacco increased by almost 30% and now accounted for about 44% of the total production, overtaking Virginia (38.8%), and Burley (17%)
Despite the decrease in production, the average buying price of P88.91 per kilo was the highest in the last five years of tobacco trading. And this is expected to increase in 2022 after a new tripartite agreement for the tobacco floor prices between the farmers, private sector, and NTA was reached during the two-day virtual Tripartite Consultative Conference in November last year. The agreement calls for a P3 increase in floor prices per kilogram across all grades for Virginia and Burley, and a P4 increase across all grades for Native tobacco.
One notable achievement in tobacco regulation is the completion of all critical onboarding activities in the TradeNet Platform, an online portal developed by the government to improve the ease of doing business. The NTA was one of 10 Trade Regulatory Government Agencies to fully transition to automated transactions. The Regulation Department issued clearances or permits to 557 importers, exports, manufacturers and licenses to 47 trading centers/wholesale tobacco dealers/redrying plants.
Unlike their food crop-growing counterparts, tobacco farmers have a higher risk of food insecurity. Tobacco is more labor-intensive and thus, more costly to cultivate. To make smallholder farmers more competitive, the NTA continued to expand the Tobacco Contract Growing System (TCGS) project under the Integrated Farming and Other Income Generating Program (IFOIGAP).
Boosting Production
For CY 2021-2022, the NTA assisted a total of 7,305 tobacco farmers tilling an aggregate area of 4,936 hectares, with a total released budget of PhP204 million. Production/credit assistance per hectare averages Php50,000 with a 40% subsidy on fertilizers/pesticides.
Top beneficiary branches were La Union (with 1,631 FCs), Candon (1,466) and Vigan (1,022). They were followed by Ilocos Norte (816), Abra (722), Pangasinan (669), Isabela (500) and Cagayan (356).
The TCGS assures farmers access to the following: (1) financial assistance to increase production; (2) technology to improve leaf quality; (3) and a ready market to boost revenue, among others. To regulate the practice of contract farming, the project also ensures that all produce is accurately weighed, documented and graded and the farmers promptly paid.
On the other hand, the NTA provided 3,000 FCs with technical assistance and farm inputs and implements worth P20 million to grow 30 million tobacco seedlings. The seedlings were distributed for free to farmers nationwide under the Improved Tobacco Seedling Production (ITSP) Project.
Finally, 4,029 tobacco farmers availed of the Curing Barn Assistance project (CBAP) to construct or repair curing barns and air-curing sheds damaged by typhoons. The CBAP had a budget of P100 million.
Resources for Livelihood
NTA also allotted an additional PhP10million to the Gulayan at Manukan sa Barangay project. It distributed 33,350 Sasso chicks and 4,002 packs of fast-growing vegetables seeds as well as provided technical assistance on vegetable and poultry farming to 1,342 farmers affected by off-season rain during the first quarter.
The agency gave away separate vegetable packs, consisting of eggplant, corn, mustard, string beans, onions, tomato, and pechay seeds, to 6,685 farmers under the Vegetable Seeds Distribution project. Launched in collaboration with the Bureau of Plant Industry, the initiative aims to promote the adoption of integrated farming systems to reduce the risks facing tobacco farmers and stabilize their incomes in the long term.
Meanwhile as, part of an ongoing effort to jumpstart the beef cattle industry in tobacco-growing provinces, another PhP20.3 million was allocated to the Beef Cattle Production Assistance Project (BCPAP) of the IFOIGAP. The initiative provided 500 farmers each with a ready-to-breed Brahman heifer, an American cattle breed regarded as a model for hybrid vigor and profit potential.
Block Farming
One of the major activities undertaken was the inventory of tobacco-based cooperatives, numbering 309 in 83 tobacco-growing municipalities, who will be conduits of assistance of the block farms. Fourteen cooperatives with a total of 636 tobacco farmers were identified as initial beneficiaries of block farms.
The rice-corn program officially started the block farming scheme for tobacco production areas in the country, as required under the Sustainable Tobacco Enhancement Program (STEP) to increase quality production and farmers’ income. I signed the release of the P71 million budget for the production assistance to farmer-cooperators from major tobacco-producing areas, based on the cropping pattern of the area. Farmers from the Ilocos provinces, La Union, Pangasinan, and Abra were given assistance for rice production, while those in Cagayan and Isabela, for corn production. This year’s budget is higher than the P49.5 million released last year for rice production.
The agency also increased the number of farmers from 3,537 to 4,976, and coverage area from 2,829 to 4,038 hectares.
Smart Farming
To build up its database, the Administration also conducted an inventory of 309 cooperatives in 83 municipalities under the Farmers Organizational Development. It successfully carried out the pilot implementation of the Tobacco-Related Activities and Facility Maps for the Stakeholders of the Tobacco Industry (TRAFMAP) in Ilocos Norte. Nearly 75% of 3,898 registered tobacco farmers were geotagged and surveyed, including their curing structures, farm machineries (e.g., water pumps and tractors) and livestock.
Data gathering is essential as it will offer predictive insights into farming operations and processes. The TRAFMAP is particularly significant as it will provide the agency a digital visual representation of the country’s tobacco farms on a map. Most importantly, it will give precise, rapid and consistent location-specific data on real time, thereby allowing for smarter forecasting and planning. Geotagging activities will be expanded to the rest of the country in the near future.
Increasing Climate Resilience
In an effort to restore the ecological condition of tobacco-growing areas, the Branch Offices planted a total of 868,000 million tree seedlings in various municipalities in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region under the Synchronized Tree Planting (STP) project.
The Branch Offices produced a total of 704,173 tree seedlings under the Kahuyang Pangkabuhayan ang Pangkalikasan (KPP) of the agency, involving 80 farmer-cooperators.
The first off-grid, solar powered curing barn designed by the agency was also constructed in Barangay Camanga in Badoc, Ilocos North. The NTA expects this will improve tobacco growing operation which traditionally relies on fuelwood while reducing the carbon footprint of the industry.
Advancing Research
Finally, in line with an ongoing effort to promote alternative industrial and commercial uses of tobacco, the agency scaled up production of tobacco handmade paper and held demonstration trials on the use of tobacco lead extract ointment against livestock skin diseases in Ilocos Norte.
The Farm Technology and Services Department conducted researches with the objective of improving the quality of the leaf and reducing the cost of production: Tobacco Germplasm collection, purification, maintenance and characterization; Pest Clinic – Quick Response; Tobacco seed production and distribution; Monitoring of Soil and Water Quality in Different Tobacco Growing Areas.
ANY good news of industry performances and achievements in 2021 would not be complete without mentioning the cooperation of everyone, from the Top Management to our extension workers in the Branch Offices, as they continue their dedication and commitment in the service of our farmers, despite some incredible obstacles.