DAVAO City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte underscored that the city has a thriving agricultural sector and has never experienced a food shortage.
“Wala man gyud food poverty ang Davao so we are very blessed sa atoang agriculture nga we are lucky enough nga naa tay ing ana (There is no food poverty in Davao, so we are very blessed with our agriculture; we are lucky enough to have this),” Duterte said during his third State of the City Address (Soca, on Tuesday afternoon, August 6, 2024.
He highlighted the distribution of 15,757 bags of agricultural essentials and yellow corn seeds to 1,322 farmers, covering approximately 800 hectares.
To ensure food security in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (Gida) within the city, the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Davao has partnered with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to install an aquapark in Tapak, Paquibato District. This initiative aims to enhance fisheries productivity in Indigenous Communities (ICs).
In February of this year, the city inaugurated a P7 million storage facility in Malagos for agricultural inputs before distribution to farmers.
Additionally, the city established a P3.5 million Bio and Laboratory Mixing Plant that produces bio-organic fertilizers, reducing the need for commercial fertilizers among local farmers.
The city has also created around 500 rainwater catchment systems in Calinan, Paquibato, and Marilog Districts. These systems are used for farmland irrigation and flood mitigation, and some farmers even use them as fishponds.
Duterte reported a significant increase in the export of fresh and frozen durian products to China, rising to 8,998 metric tons in 2023 from 3,271 metric tons in 2022.
The city exported about 3,000 metric tons of cacao products in 2023, with Davao City producing 41 percent of the total cacao production in the region.
“We will continue to support our local farmers to help them boost and sustain production and connect them to the international market,” he said. RGP
