Teamwork – How PH DA Is Fighting Infectious Plant & Animal Diseases

 


PH Secretary of Agriculture William Darknows what he should be doing with or without the lockdown, with several plant and animal diseases attacking farmer crops and livestock – with all that the DA has to offer. And that is? With his Servant Leadership leading The DA Team.

Mr Dar is no stranger to national-international institutional challenges. He has 15 years experience being the Servant Leader of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India. From 2000 to 2014, he brought ICRISAT, among 15 international agricultural research centers of the CGIAR, which include IRRI, from kulelat (dead last) to #1. Unprecedented!

This January, ANN says, the DA said it was “strengthening its laboratory network system in its continuing fight against infectious diseases such as African Swine Fever (ASF) in hogs, avian influenza (AI) in poultry, foot and mouth disease (FMD) in livestock, Panama disease in banana, and fall armyworm (FAW) in corn and onion, among others” (Author Not Named, 20 January 2021, “DA Sets Up Integrated Laboratories Vs Animal, Plant Diseases[1],” DA.gov.ph).

On that occasion, via DA Department Order #1 dated 05 January 2021, Mr Dar said:

We are adopting an integrated “OneDA” laboratory masterplan that incorporates international bio-risk management standards and best practices on biosafety and biosecurity measures, regulations, and certifications.

We have to protect the crops we grow and the animals we raise to protect ourselves, not to mention our country.

Now then, is the DA today equipped to deal with crop and livestock diseases anywhere in the country? There is now a masterplan, ANN says:

The ”OneDA” Masterplan (to cope with diseases) was proposed by the DA’s Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE) after consultations with concerned DA national laboratories, bureaus, and regional field offices (RFOs), through the assistance of the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Mr Dar said, “The will help prime the country’s national and regional laboratory services to tighten biosafety and biosecurity measures against plant and animal diseases, including smuggling” (of commercial plant and animal materials).

The plan calls for the formulation of policies and approaches to either construct new ones or upgrade existing national laboratories of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), and Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), which are all under the DA.

The top image shows Mr Dar leading the launching of the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RADDL) (ANN, 14 May 2021, “DA-Bicol Inaugurates State-Of-The Art & One-Stop-Shop Laboratory Facility,” DA RFO 5, Bicol.da.gov.ph). It is a P100 million Integrated Laboratory complex, a state- of-the-art, one-stop-shop facility that offers plant, animal, pest, feed and food diagnostic, testing and other laboratory services. The laboratories include the RADDL, Regional Soils Laboratory, Regional Feed Chemical Analysis Laboratory, and Regional Crop Protection Center – Plant Diagnostic Laboratory. These 4 major DA laboratories are now housed in the 4 interconnected 2-storey buildings in a quadrangle formation.

With the OneDA Approach, with Secretary Dar, we have knowledgeable leaders and able servants working for the best of Philippine Agriculture!@517


[1]https://www.da.gov.ph/da-sets-up-integrated-laboratories-vs-animal-plant-diseases/

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