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Difference between revisions of "South Cotabato News"
→DA-12 chief wants to win back trust of farmers, public
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==Mining firm backs greening campaign== | |||
*Source: http://www.tempo.com.ph/2012/mining-firm-backs-greening-campaign/#.Tx7T46X9nJd | |||
*Jan 24th, 2012 | |||
:by MARVYN N. BENANING | |||
Manila, Philippines – The plan of local officials to ban large-scale mining in South Cotabato may be offensive to Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) but the company is backing to the hilt the campaign to reforest the largely denuded province. | |||
SMI has actually produced 600,000 seedlings of indigenous forest trees and commercial trees in its nurseries located at the Liberty Core Farm in Tampakan, South Cotabato and Kiblawan, Davao del Sur and had supported the National Greening Program (NGP) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) since its inception in May 2011. | |||
Ironically, the mining company also launched a reforestation drive in Marbel, South Cotabato, center of opposition to the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project, in the second half of 2011. | |||
The city has lost much of its forest cover and SMI is supporting the greening campaign to help mitigate the impact of flooding. | |||
Flooding has been a scourge to as many as 80,000 people in the lowlands of South Cotabato, which has more than 200,000 hectares of land planted to pineapples and other high-value crops like bananas and papaya. | |||
However, the water from the creeks and rivers in the Tampakan uplands is not known to swirl down to the lowlands of the province and the water quality in mineralized areas is generally not good for agricultural use. | |||
The mining firm is also engaged in planting trees in an area around the General Santos Airport, a vast tract of land said to be around 2,500 hectares that Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala wants to be transformed into plantations of garlic and onions. | |||
SMI corporate communications manager John B. Arnaldo said the company is mandated by environmental laws to reforest the equivalent of the areas it would develop in the uplands of Tampakan but it has also engaged in propagating the traditional “tuai” tree, which is sacred to the B’laan communities in the town. | |||
==DA-12 chief wants to win back trust of farmers, public== | ==DA-12 chief wants to win back trust of farmers, public== | ||
*Source: http://pia.gov.ph/?m=7&r=r12&id=73552 | *Source: http://pia.gov.ph/?m=7&r=r12&id=73552 | ||
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Lesser import our country, means an advantage to the farmers, she added. | Lesser import our country, means an advantage to the farmers, she added. | ||
“Farmers will never be successful if people in DA, including other key players in agriculture sector are not sincere in the implementation of all the programs and projects,” she said. | “Farmers will never be successful if people in DA, including other key players in agriculture sector are not sincere in the implementation of all the programs and projects,” she said. | ||
==DA chief urges farmers to help achieve food sufficiency== | ==DA chief urges farmers to help achieve food sufficiency== | ||