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When the
Philippines joined the race to become industrialized
several decades ago, it was at the expense of
agriculture. The thinking then was that progressive
countries must be industrialized, and that being an
agricultural economy was being backward.
We now
know that was a mistake. We forgot that the United
States, one of the most industrial powers in the world,
is also one of the world’s biggest agricultural
producers. Today, as in the past, it still feeds the
world. And closer to home, Australia and New Zealand are
among the wealthiest countries in the Asia-Pacific
region, and both are agricultural economies.
The
World Bank now has to appeal to China to release some of
its surplus rice stocks to help ease the global food
shortage, which has added an estimated 105 million to
the world’s poor.
Yes,
indeed, it’s the agriculture sector in these countries
that has given them a big advantage amid the current
global food prices. Like most oil-consuming countries,
they are affected by the accompanying oil-price crisis,
but they have the comfort of knowing their people will
not run out of food.
The rice
crisis that hit the Philippines puts to light the sad
and ironic situation in our agriculture sector. It is
sad because we have more than enough resources to
produce our food requirements, and even to export some;
and ironic because we were the source of the best rice
seedlings and technology, and yet we have to import rice
from our former students. In the world market, we are
now being blamed for boosting rice prices because of our
huge import tenders.
Is it
time to cry and lament our misfortune in our small
corner of the world? No! Rather, it is time for us to
regain our position as a leading agricultural producer
in this part of the world!
I was
heartened by the enthusiastic reaction to my previous
columns wherein I first mentioned the term “renaissance”
of the Philippine agriculture sector. The letters I
received from farmer organizations supporting my
position serve as an encouragement for me to lobby, not
just for the revival of agriculture, but to give it a
bigger role in our economic development than in the
past.
Given
the present sad state of conditions in the agriculture
sector, an agricultural renaissance cannot be done
overnight. Thousands of coconut trees are already over a
century old and not so productive, while others have
been cut for lumber; rice fields are no longer
cultivated because the inputs have become too costly for
farmers; and there are hundreds of thousands of hectares
of logged-over areas and other idle lands.
Just an
inventory of our agriculture sector—the problems and
deficiencies, as well as the resources—will take some
time. Such an inventory, or assessment, must be done as
a first step. Then this will be used as the basis in
formulating a development program.
I am
thinking of a time table of five to 10 years. Some
people may say it’s too long, considering the present
high prices of rice and other food products.
My
proposal for an agricultural renaissance is not aimed at
solving the current problem, which requires an immediate
and short-term solution. As I said in a previous column,
I am supporting short-term solutions like subsidies,
provided these benefit those who really need them, and I
mean the poor households.
Of
course, subsidies and other short-term solutions are
just short-term measures. They would be too costly to
implement on a long-term basis, and they do not solve
the problem of inadequate production.
The
problem of inadequate production will be addressed by a
long-term program that will increase output from
existing and new farms, so that when another crisis hits
the global food markets, the Philippines will no longer
be in a position that it finds itself these days.
I am
proposing a grand strategy to revive agriculture and
develop it as a major growth driver for our economy, as
important as, if not more important than, the services
and industry sectors, which need continuing support.
What I’m
saying is that developing any sector of the economy
should not be at the expense of another sector. All
three must be significant contributors to economic
growth.
What
makes agricultural development nobler is the fact that
this sector accounts for the majority of our population.
At the same time, the rural poor also account for the
bulk of Filipino families living below the poverty
threshold. Raising agriculture to a higher level in the
economic hierarchy, thus, accomplishes another
objective: alleviating poverty.
I will
discuss some components of my proposed grand strategy
for agricultural renaissance in succeeding columns. But
this will not be just talking the walk. I mean to put it
on top of my legislative agenda in the new regular
session of Congress.
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