The Department of Agriculture-Central Visayas (DA7) held a 2-day Stakeholders Consultation on the formulation of the FY 2026 Plan and Budget Proposal (PBP) for Bohol Province today, January 30, 2025, in Tagbilaran City.
Engr. Cirilo Namoc, DA7’s Regional Technical Director for Operations, in his message called for unity and collaboration, as he emphasized that achieving sustainable agricultural growth in Bohol, it requires convergence, cooperation, and coordination between DA7 and all agri stakeholders.
He said, partnerships are crucial for advancing agricultural development and promoting a unified approach for the sector. He also highlighted the importance of careful and effective planning and collaboration to achieve better results in order to increase production and boost income.
RTD Namoc, also encouraged farmers to submit feasibility studies (FS) instead of letter of intent. The FS, he said is crucial as this will help ensure that agricultural projects are viable, sustainable, and likely to succeed, enhancing their production. This would support the goal of shovel readiness and foster greater investment in agriculture.

Mildred Montecillo, PMED staff discussed the importance of effective public resource utilization, outlining the key principles for resource allocation, such as cost-efficiency, industry relevance, program targeting, outcome-based approaches, and shovel readiness.
Dr. Gerry Avila, DA7’s chief of the Field Operations Division (FOD), shared the 10-point development strategy of the DA Secretary to include among others, expanding agri-fishery areas, modernizing production systems, and improving post-harvest infrastructure. It also focuses on better logistics, market access, and balancing the Department’s developmental and regulatory roles, digitalization for decision-making, fostering partnerships with farmers and stakeholders, providing accessible financial mechanisms, and prioritizing research and development to optimize the sector’s potential.
Participants composed of Municipal Agriculturist (MA), agricultural extension workers (AEW) from the local government units (LGU), academe, and other private sectors, underwent a workshop and group discussions, focusing in agricultural operations. They need to identify gaps/challenges such as seed quality, pest and disease concerns, delayed seed distribution, and procurement delays, among others.

This is to address the challenges besetting the sector and be given with appropriate interventions and actions for inclusion in the FY 2026 plans. The consultation is a crucial steps to align the needed interventions of the stakeholders to build a sustainable agricultural future for Bohol.