BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Acting Sugar Regulatory Administration chief David John Thaddeus Alba yesterday welcomed the increased budget of SRA to P1 billion next year, an increase of 41 percent, compared to this year’s budget of P712.2 million.
Alba said that sugar industry is in dire need of programs to be implemented next year, in order to increase its productivity, and the increase in SRA budget is a welcome move.
With the national government’s thrust on food security, the budget increase can be used for research and development programs and support services for small farmers, especially for block farms, he added.
House deputy speaker Ralph Recto said it took a sitting president to concurrently serve as Agriculture secretary for the DA “to finally reap a budget increase.”
With Pres. Marcos at its helm, the Department of Agriculture will see its budget shoot up by 44 percent, from P71 billion this year to P102.15 billion next year, the Batangas representative added.
In a statement, Alba said they also welcomed the P19.5 billion allocated for fertilizer support, amid skyrocketing prices of fertilizers that have tripled over the last three years.
We are also hoping that the P2 billion allocation under the Sugar Industry Development Act will be given by next year as this has been cut down to a fourth of that amount for this year, he added.
For the sugar industry to be sustainable and attain self-sufficiency for the country, we need to double time in our efforts, and any budget increase will help ensure we can meet this, if we get the much-needed help for the industry, Alba said.* with report from PNA
