Section 4December 22, 1997, Sec./Art. 4

Definition of Terms. -

"Agrarian Reform Community" is a barangay at the minimum or a cluster of contiguous barangays where there is a critical mass of farmers or farm workers and which features the main thrust of agrarian development land tenure improvement and effective delivery of support services.

"Agricultural Lands" refers to lands devoted to or suitable for the cultivation of the soil, planting of crops, growing of trees, raising of livestock, poultry, fish or aquiculture production, including the harvesting of such farm products, and other farm activities and practices performed in conjunction with such farming operations by persons whether natural or juridical and not classified by the law as mineral land, forest land, residential land, commercial land, or industrial land.

"Agricultural Land Use Conversion" refers to the process of changing the use of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses.

"Agricultural Sector" is the sector engaged in the cultivation of the soil, planting of crops, growing of fruit trees, raising of livestock, poultry, or fish, including the harvesting and marketing off such farm products, and other farm activities and practices.

"Agricultural Mechanization" is the development, adoption, manufacture and application of appropriate location-specific, and cost-effective agricultural technology using human, animal, mechanical, electrical and other non-conventional sources of energy for agricultural production and post-harvest operations consistent with agronomic conditions and for efficient and economic farm management.

"Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization" is the process of transforming the agriculture and fisheries sectors into one that is dynamic, technologically advanced and competitive yet centered on human development guided by the sound practices of sustainability and the principles of social justice.

"Agro-Processing Activities" refers to the processing of raw agricultural and fishery products into semi-processed or finished products which include materials for the manufacture for food and/or non-food products, pharmaceuticals and other industrial products.

"Banks" collective used, means government banks and private banks, rural banks and cooperative banks.

"Basic Needs Approach to Development" involves the identification, production and marketing of wage goods and services for consumption of rural communities.

"Communal Irrigation System (CIS)" is an irrigation system that is managed by a bona fide Irrigators Association.

"Competitive Advantage" refers to competitive edge in terms of product quality and/or price. It likewise refer to the ability to produce a product with the greatest relative efficiency in the use of resources.

"Cooperatives" refers to duly registered associations of persons with a common bond of interest who have voluntarily joined together to achieve a lawful common social and economic end, making equitable contributions to the capital required and accepting a fair share of the risks and benefits of the undertaking in accordance with universally accepted cooperatives principles.

"Department" refers to the Department of Agriculture.

"Economic Scale " refers to the minimum quantity of volume of goods required to be efficient.

"Economies of Scale" refers to the decrease in unit cost as more units are produced due to the spreading out of fixed costs over a greater number of units produced.

"Empowerment" involves providing authority, responsibility and information to people directly engaged in agriculture and fishery production, primarily at the level of the farmers, fisher folk and those engaged in food and non-food production and processing, in order to give them wider choices and enable them to take advantage of the benefits of the agriculture and fishery industries.

"Extension Services" refers to the provision of training, information, and support services by the government and non-government organizations to the agriculture and fisheries sectors to improve the technical, business, and social capabilities of farmers and fisher folk.

"Farmer's and Fisherfolk's Organizations or Associations" refer to farmers and fisherfolks cooperatives, associations or corporations duly registered with appropriate government agencies and which are composed primarily of small agricultural producers, farmers, farm, workers, agrarian reform beneficiaries, fisher folk who voluntarily join together to form business enterprises or non-business organizations which they themselves own, control and patronize.

"Farm-to-Market Roads" refer to roads linking the agriculture and fisheries production sites, coastal landing points and post-harvest facilities to the market and arterial roads and highways.

"Fisheries" refers to all systems or networks of interrelated activities which include the production, growing, harvesting, processing, marketing, developing, conserving, and managing of all aquatic resources and fisheries areas.

"Fisheries Sector" is the sector engaged in the production, growing, harvesting, processing, marketing, developing, conserving, and managing of aquatic resources and fisheries areas.

"Fishing" refers to the application of techniques using various gear in catching fish and other fisheries products.

"Fishing Grounds" refers to areas in any body of water where fish and other aquatic resources congregate and become target of capture.

"Food Security" refers to the policy objective, plan and strategy of meeting the food requirements of the present and future generations of Filipinos in substantial quantity, ensuring the availability and affordability of food to all, either through local production or importation, of both, based on the country's existing and potential resource endowment and related production advantages, and consistent with the over all national development objectives and policies. However, sufficiency in rice and white corn should be pursued.

"Fresh Agricultural And Fishery Products" refers to agricultural and fisheries products newly taken or captured directly from its natural state or habitat, or those newly harvested or gathered from agricultural areas or bodies of water used for aquiculture.

"Global Competitiveness" refers to the ability to compete in terms of price, quality and value of agriculture and fishery products relative to those of other countries.

"Gross Value-Added" refers to the total value, excluding the value of non-agricultural of fishery intermediate inputs, of goods and services contributed by the agricultural and fisheries sectors.

"Head works" refers to the composite parts of the irrigation system that divert water from natural bodies of water such as river, streams, and lakes.

"Industrial Dispersal" refers to the encouragement given to manufacturing enterprises to establish their plants in rural areas. Such firms normally use agricultural raw materials either in their primary or intermediate state.

"Irrigable Lands" refers to lands which display marked characteristics justifying the operation of an irrigation system.

"Irrigated Lands" refers to lands services by natural irrigation or irrigation facilities. These include lands where water is not readily available as existing irrigation facilities need rehabilitation or upgrading or where irrigation water is not available year-round.

"Irrigation System" refers to a system of irrigation facilities covering contiguous areas.

"Irrigators' Association (IA)" refers to an association of farmers within a contiguous area served by a National Irrigation System or Communal Irrigation System.

"Land Use" refers to the manner of utilizing the land, including its allocation, development and management.

"Land Use Plan" refers to a document embodying a set of policies accompanied by maps and similar illustrations which represent the community-deserved pattern of population distribution and a proposal for the future allocation of land to the various land-using activities, in accordance with the social and economic objectives of the people. It identifies the location, character and extent of the area's land resources to be used for different purposes and includes the process and the criteria employed in the determination of the land use.

"Land Use Planning" refers to the act of defining the allocation, utilization, development and management of all lands within a given territory or jurisdiction according to the inherent qualities of the land itself and supportive of sustainable, economic, demographic, socio-cultural and environmental objectives as an aid to decision-making and legislation.

"Main Canal" refers to the channel where diverted water from a source flows to the intended area to be irrigated.

"Market Infrastructure" refers to facilities including, but not limited to, market buildings, slaughterhouses, holding pens, warehouses, market information centers, connecting roads, transport and communication and cold storage used by the farmers and fisher folk in marketing their produce.

"National Information Network (NIN)" refers to an information network which links all offices and levels of the Department with various research institutions and local end-users, providing easy access to information and marketing services related to agriculture and fisheries.

"National Irrigation System (NIS)" refers to a major irrigation system managed by the National Irrigation Administration.

"Network of Protected Areas for Agricultural and Agro-industrial Development (NPAAD)" refers to agricultural areas identified by the Department through the Bureau of Soils and Water Management in coordination with the National Mapping and Resources Information Authority in order to ensure the efficient utilization of land for agriculture and Agro-industrial development and promote sustainable growth .

The NPAAD covers all irrigated areas, all irrigable lands already covered by irrigation projects with firm funding commitments; all alluvial plain land highly suitable for agriculture whether irrigated or not; Agro-industrial crop lands or lands presently planted to industrial crops that support the viability of existing agricultural infrastructure and agro-based enterprises, highlands, areas located at an elevation of five hundred (500) meters or above and have the potential for growing semi temperate and high-value crops; all agricultural lands that are ecological fragile, the conversion of which will result in serious environmental degradation, and mangrove areas and fish sanctuaries.

"On-Farm Irrigation Facilities" refers to composite facilities that permit entry of water to paddy areas and consist of farm ditches and turnouts.

"Primary Processing" refers to the physical alteration of raw agricultural or fishery products with or without the use of mechanical facilities.

"Post-Harvest Facilities" includes, but is not limited to , threshing, drying, milling, grading , storing, and handling of produce and such other activities as stripping, winnowing, chipping and washing.

"Post -Harvest Facilities" includes, but it is not limited to, threshers, moisture meters, dryers, weighing scales, milling equipment, fish ports, fish landings, ice plants and cold storage facilities, processing plants, warehouses, buying stations, market infrastructure and transportation.

"Premature Conversion of Agricultural Land" refers to the undertaking of any development activity, the results of which modify or alter the physical characteristics of the agricultural lands to render them suitable for non-agricultural purposes, without an approved order of conversion from the DAR.

"Resource Accounting" refers to a tracking changes in the environment and natural resources biophysically and economically (in monitory terms)

"Resource-based" refers to the utilization of natural resources.

"Rural Industrialization" refers to the process by which the economy is transformed from one that is predominantly agricultural to one that is dominantly industrial and service-oriented. Agriculture provides the impetus and push for industry and services through the market that it creates, the labor that it absorbs, and the income that it generates which is channeled to industry and services. As development continues, with agriculture still an important sector, industry and services begin to generate income and markets and concomitantly increase their share of total income.

"Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones (SAFDZ)" refers to the areas within the NAPAAD identified for production, Agro-Processing and marketing activities to help develop and modernize, either the support of government, the agriculture and fisheries sectors in an environmentally and socio-cultural sound manner.

"Secondary Canal" refers to the channel connected to the main canal which distributes irrigation to specific areas.

"Secondary Processing" refers to the physical transformation of semi-processed agricultural or fishery products.

"Shallow Tube Well (STW)" refers to a tube or shaft vertically set into the ground for the purpose of bringing ground water to the soil surface from a depth of less than 20 meters by suction lifting.

"Small Farmers and Fisherfolk" refers to natural person dependent on small-scale subsistence farming and fishing activities as their primary source of income.

"Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)" refers to any business activity or enterprise engaged in industry, agribusiness and/or services, whether single proprietorship, cooperative, partnership or corporation whose total assets, inclusive of those arising from loans but exclusive of the land on which the particular business entity's office, plan and equipment are situated, must have value falling under the following categories:

Micro - not more than P 1,500,000

Small - P 1,500,001 to P 15,000,000

Medium - P15,000,001 to P 60,000,000

The Department, in consultation with the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization, may adjust the above values as deemed necessary.

"Socio-culturally Sound" means the consideration of the social structure of the community such as leadership pattern, distribution of roles across gender and age groups, the diversity of religion and other spiritual beliefs, ethnicity and cultural diversity of the population.

"Technology-based" refers to utilization of technology.

"Zoning Ordinance" refers to a local legislation approving the development land use plan and providing for the regulations and other conditions on the uses of land including the limitation of the infrastructure that may be placed within the territorial jurisdiction of a city or municipality.

TITLE I

PRODUCTION AND MARKETING SUPPORT SERVICES

Chapter 1

Strategic Agricultural and Fisheries Development Zones