TABUK CITY, Kalinga (PIA) — Authorities in Kalinga are eyeing measures to address the decline of the province’s agriculture industry, proposing more stringent policies on land conversion.
Kalinga’s agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector shrank by another 0.2 percent in 2023 after posting a decline of 1.8 percent in 2022, based on the results of the Provincial Products Account (PPA) reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority-Kalinga.
Land conversion is blamed for the contraction among other factors including the drought during the first semester of 2023 and Typhoon ‘Egay’ and Super Typhoon ‘Goring’ in the second semester.
“We have seen in our compendium and statistics that we have a decreasing production area due to premature conversion. ‘Yung dating agricultural production areas were converted into a settlement or commercial or housing project or resorts,” Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Flordeliza G. Moldero said during the 2023 PPA dissemination forum on Nov. 14, 2024.
Moldero expressed the provincial government’s commitment to addressthe issue, saying more stringent policies on land conversion and reclassification are in the offing at the upcoming Provincial Development Council (PDC) meeting next week.
“One of the main agenda of the PDC meeting on the19th is the presentation and adoption of the proposed policies regarding land conversion and reclassification. Because by all means, we need to respond to this or address this because adu ti implications na,” she said.
Moldero pointed out that Kalinga is reputed as the rice granary of the Cordillera and must uphold agriculture as its biggest economic driver.
Compared to other provinces in the Cordillera, Kalinga’s agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry posted the lowest decline in growth rate, according to the PSA-Kalinga. (JDP/IOS-PIA CAR, Kalinga)
