Business: Agriculture Way of Making an Economic Boom in Negros Occidental, Marañon Says

Agriculture will be fully developed in Negros Occ. and it is actually the key to industrial development, Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. declared in an interview yesterday, waxing ecstatic that the province once again, has proven it can be tops in agriculture, with it recently becoming one of the top ten provinces in agricultural production especially rice.

Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPA) head Igmedio Tabianan, also seconded Marañon’s observation, saying that under the Agri-Pinoy Rice Production program, the province has won an award as the number one rice-producing province last year. It will receive the award, this week in Manila.

“With the province’s ample water resources, developing and tapping this, the province would be able to produce enough to become self-sufficient in rice during the near future, said Marañon.

The province is aiming to be the number one in poultry production and in agriculture, too. A sign of its capability to produce pigs for slaughtering and for use as food is exemplified by the fact that a slaughterhouse established in Sagay City now can process 120 heads per hour. The province produces the best kind of swine because of its good quality pork when butchered, said Marañon. This is because, said some Dutch experts who visited the province recently, swines here are from a good stock and that the province has applied genetics to produce them.

Foreign experts have tagged Negros Occidental province as one which has excellent soil and fertile, too. It is among the best in the world, the province’s top honcho said.
A proof of its belief that agriculture is suited for agricultural production and that, it is the handmaiden of industrialization and that, the provincial government has concentrated its effort on agriculture and the production of poultry. The provincial government has distributed to date more than 40,000 heads of poultry and swine.

The provincial government is also in the process of establishing an agriculture center because it believes it could be the best hereabouts. Before the war, it was number one in rice production aside from being known as the country’s sugar-growing province.

Under his administration, the focus will, indeed, be on agriculture. Irrigation systems are to be developed, what with the province harboring 28 locations where water is plentiful. These locations are in the process of being tapped by the provincial government. It is also good sources of electricity through hydropower.

Aside from agriculture, his main concerns would be peace and order. This would complement production of crops. Without this component, there would be difficulty in carrying out this program, said Marañon.
“We need to cooperate with one another,” he said.* (Edgar Cadagat)