We’re ending the year on a positive note

IN a year of so many problems brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, one report stands out as a bright beacon of hope to the country – the Philippines is ending 2020 with an all-time record of palay production.

The Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) said the country’s palay production by the end of the year totals 19.4 million metric tons. This exceeds last year’s output of 18.81 million tons. And it surpasses the record of 19.27 million tons attained in 2017.

Secretary of Agriculture William Dar said the country’s production this year could have been even higher were it not for the typhoons that hit this year, especially “Ulysses” last month, preceded by “Pepito,” Quinto,” and “Rolly.”

But typhoons are a natural part of life in the Philippines so we have to accept them as part of the natural way of things in the country, along with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

This year, there were problems due to the pandemic which, starting in March, brought about by a “logistical nightmare” in the shutdowns of both government offices and private businesses and offices. Despite this unprecedented factor, the nation’s rice farmers managed to carry on and come up with their record production this year.

The Department of Agriculture is looking forward to an even better year in 2021, with plans to help the country’s farmers’ cooperatives and associations with drying equipment and other facilities. It is part of an over-all “Bayanihan Agri Cluster” strategy to provide more farmers with modern agricultural equipment and facilities to attain bigger harvests, lower operations costs, and thus earn bigger incomes.

This welcome Department of Agriculture report comes with a general assessment of the national economy by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Governor Benjamin Diokno said 2020 has been the most challenging year in economic terms and the BSP injected at least ₱ 1.9 trillion into the local financial system during all the difficult months as aid to ailing establishments.

Now, looking forward to 2021, “we see a solid rebound with the economy growing at 6.5 to 7.5 percent. Further relaxation of restrictions as we improve our health care system capacity will keep our economy on track toward full recovery,” Governor Diokno said.

We thus end this year with great hopes and expectations as we look ahead to the new year that will begin three days from today.