By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today The peasant group challenged De Lima to investigate first what really happened in the clash between protesting coconut farmers and the cops during last Thursday's rally at the NAPC office before issuing “prejudicial statements.” ...

By DANILDA FUSILERO Davao Today “Gipasulod mi nila sa covenant para maundang ang gubot, pero wala man pud nasunod ang kasabotan (They made us agree to the covenant to resolve the conflict but they did not comply).” -- Lilia Gicana, 54, a CLOA holder from Sitio Lacobe, Malabuan village, Makilala town  ...

By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today “These oil mills were established using our money and are, therefore, owned by small coconut farmers.  The return of all coco levy funds and assets to its rightful owners is long overdue,” says Marbella adding, that the companies must be turned over to the coconut farmers themselves. ...

By MARILOU AGUIRRE-TUBURAN Davao Today The Italian government granted the country’s PHP 2.5 Billion-worth of soft loan with 0.15 percent interest per annum to develop the 35 agrarian reform communities not only in the ARMM but also in the Soccsksargen region covering 53,000 households and 31,500 agrarian reform beneficiaries. ...

By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA Davao Today The Freshmax Trading Company has now closed its facilities affecting a total of 200 workers who, mostly, have been working for at least five years.  It just posted a memo that, Roto, another company, would be taking over.  ...

By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA Davao Today “We will use part of the fund to rehabilitate the coconut industry and the welfare of the coconut farmers" -- Euclides Forbes, Philippine Coconut Authority undersecretary ...

By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today The Magsasaka at Siyentipiko pasa sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (Masipag), in a statement released to the media, said the Golden Rice is “genetically modified” as it is “artificially inserted” with genes from the bacteria Erwinia uredovora and corn so it can produce beta carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A. ...

By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today The recent trade issues involving China and Iran, DA Secretary Proceso Alcala said, serve as a wake-up call that the industry needs to open to other markets abroad. ...

By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today “Human sa tulo ka adlaw namong panagtigum sa mokabat 73 ka mga lider mag-uuma sa tibuok rehiyon nakita ang daghang kasong natala nga nakapasamot sa kalisud sa mga mag-uuma (After three days of gathering by 73 leaders from the region we found out a number of cases recorded that push farmers to severe poverty),” Arnado said during an interview with davaotoday.com. ...

By ALEX D. LOPEZ Davao Today Masipag said that when farming first became dependent on chemicals, synthetic and imported inputs that were institutionalized through the green revolution program in 1960s, the incidence of poverty and hunger steadily increased in the countryside, especially among the farmers. ...