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CABANATUAN CITY — Farmers’ groups and civil society organizations in Central Luzon launched the Save the Rice Granary Movement (SRGM) on Friday and called for a two-year moratorium on land conversion permits, warning that the continued loss of agricultural lands is worsening the country’s food security crisis.
The movement was launched at the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, where organizers cited the rapid conversion of farmlands into residential, commercial, industrial, energy, aviation, and infrastructure projects across Central and Northern Luzon.
Former Anakpawis party-list Representative Rafael Mariano said the continued conversion of agricultural lands remains one of the major factors behind recurring food shortage in the country.
“First and foremost, we can say that the country’s agricultural sector has long been in crisis, which is why we are facing a food crisis that is part of the broader crisis affecting the national economy,” Mariano told the Inquirer.
