MANILA, Philippines — A group of science and technology advocates on Wednesday have asserted the importance of strong research in the development of the agriculture sector in the country, the achievement of food security, and the upliftment of farmers’ lives. The Food Security and Self-Sufficiency Committee of the Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (Agham) said Villar calling the Department of Agriculture (DA) “crazy for research” for allocating P150 million budget for research under the National Corn Program reflects the “lackluster support” of the national government to research and development. ADVERTISEMENTREAD: Villar hits DA for high budget on corn research: ‘Baliw na baliw kayo sa research’“[We] would like to dispute Senator Cynthia Villar’s statement belittling the importance of research to agricultural development. We would like to assert that strong research, together with genuine land and pro-farmer reforms, plays a vital role in developing the country’s agriculture, achieving food security and uplifting the lives of our farmers,” Agham said in a statement. The R&D (research and development) expenditure of the country pales compared to neighboring countries such as Vietnam (2.4%) and Malaysia (1.3%),” it added.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 16, 2019 06:33 UTC