FARM output in the first three months was seen to pace some 1 percent slower due to seasonality and high base reference, with the crops subsector still leading the increment.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said he expects the value of agriculture production in the January-to-March period to post a “modest” growth amid higher prices of agricultural commodities.
“We expect a modest growth in the first quarter for agriculture, especially since prices of agricultural commodities have really improved,” Piñol told reporters on Monday. “I always believe that profitability is the best motivation for productivity.”
Piñol said the crops subsector, which accounts for more than half of the total agricultural output, would remain key to the expected 1-percent growth.
“For the first quarter we are expecting about a 1-percent growth over last year’s growth,” he said. “I’m actually expecting greater growth toward the end of the year mainly because of the very good prices of agriculture commodities.”
The agriculture chief said other subsectors, which include livestock, poultry and fisheries, would post increments in the first quarter.
“For the hogs sector, they are enjoying good prices right now. In fact, our production is slightly insufficient to meet the growing demand,” he acknowledged.
Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development Director Alvin P. Ang told the BusinessMirror he sees farm output in the first quarter growing by “around the same level” as Piñol’s estimate, mainly because of seasonality and given the “high base” reference last year. Ang added the crops subsector would remain the main driver for growth, as the share of the other subsectors is small.
Meanwhile, Dr. Rolando T. Dy, executive director of the University of Asia and the Pacific’s Center for Food and Agri-business, projected that the value of farm output in the January-to-March period should grow from 1.9 percent to 2.3 percent.
Dy attributed the higher agriculture output to the subsectors, including other crops, hogs, poultry and fisheries.
Dy forecast that other crops and subsectors output would expand by at least one percent to 1.5 percent.
“Other crops and subsectors, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA], accounted for 74 percent of real GVA [gross value added] in [first quarter of] 2017,” he told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail.
“Thus, a lot will depend on agri growth on other crops and subsectors [hogs, poultry and fishery]. If that goes up to 2 percent, [then] overall [agriculture] growth will exceed 2.5 percent.”
Dy pointed out that, together, the hog, poultry and fisheries subsectors account for 40 percent of the agriculture sector’s GVA.
The value of farm output in the first quarter of 2017 expanded by 5.28 percent, rebounding from a dismal performance caused by El Niño during the same period in 2016, according to the PSA.
All the agricultural subsectors’ output during the January-to- March period last year, the PSA said, posted increments, with the crops subsector still the main driver for farm growth.
The PSA will release its report on the performance of the agriculture in the first quarter on May 8.
In a related development, the House Special Committee on Food Security has endorsed for plenary approval a measure reducing food waste by requiring businesses to take part in food donation and food recycling programs. Rep. Leo Rafael Cueva, the committee chairman, said the substitute bill ,titled “Food Waste Reduction Act,” is ready for plenary deliberation when the session resumes next week.
The measure substituted House Bills 2496, 4263, 4675, 5746, 6235 and 6789 authored by Reps. Conrado M. Estrella III of Abono, Evelina G. Escudero of Sorsogon, John Marvin C. Nieto of Manila, Emi Calixto-Rubiano of Pasay, Deputy Speaker Sharon S. Garin of Aambis-Owa and Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte Jr. of Camarines Sur, respectively.
Villafuerte, citing the Food and Agriculture Organization, said food security is mainly a problem of access rather than production.
In the Philippines, he said the country suffers more from losses during agricultural production than from consumption, meaning “we waste food being produced in the country even before it hits the plates of the people.”
The lawmaker said the proposal aims to prohibit food-related businesses from throwing away edible food and donate them to food banks and charity institutions instead.
“Food establishments, in return, are given tax incentives by exempting them from the donor’s tax and shall be considered as an allowance deduction from their gross income,” Villafuerte said.
Garin said there is no law specifically combating the rising food waste in the Philippines.
Citing the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Garin said Filipinos waste an average 3.29 kilograms of food each year.
“Much is needed done to reduce food wastage. Behavioral change is necessary to combat this problem. It is high time the government does its part not only for the Philippines but also because this has become an alarming global problem,” she said.
The bill recognizes that each person has a right to an adequate standard of living, including sufficient, safe and nutritious food. Hence, it shall be a policy of the State to attain food security, end hunger and promote the efficient use of the country’s food resources.
The bill defines edible food surplus as excess food/surplus food in the retail and consumption stages, determined fit for consumption based on standards set by the National Nutrition Council (NNC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
It defines the food-insecure as persons or groups of persons who have no means and/or have difficulty producing or purchasing food.
The following are the establishments covered by the bill: food manufacturers; food establishments (restaurants, cafés, diners, fast-food chains or hotels); supermarkets with at least 500 square meters of selling space; and culinary schools that offer culinary, baking and pastry courses and with at least 50 students.
The criteria for determining the food-insecure will be made by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in coordination with the local government units (LGUs).
The National Food Surplus Campaign shall be undertaken by the NNC in tandem with the DSWD, the departments of the Interior (DILG), Environment (DENR), Education (DepEd), Trade (DTI), Health (DOH), Science (DOST), and Agriculture (DA), the FDA and other concerned agencies and the LGUs.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of the impact of a food surplus and strategies to minimize food waste, starting at the household level. The campaign shall also promote a food surplus hierarchy and recommend means of reducing individual food waste.
To educate the younger generation, the DepEd shall have the duty to ensure the prescribed curriculum includes informative materials on the following: the current global and national food waste situation; ways to minimize food waste; national and local food waste-prevention programs and food recovery.
The following steps shall be followed in edible waste distribution: 1) Owners of covered establishments shall segregate their edible and inedible food surplus; 2) Before donation, a duly accredited health inspector of the LGU shall check if the edible food surplus is fit for consumption based on the standards set by the NNC and FDA; 3) Upon certifying that the edible food surplus is fit for consumption, the edible food surplus shall be donated to accredited food banks to be determined by the DSWD; 4) The food banks shall coordinate with the DSWD and LGUs in distributing the edible food surplus to food insecures. Meanwhile, the inedible food surplus, together with the food waste determined as unfit for human consumption, shall be distributed to farms for use as compost or fertilizer in a manner to determined by the DENR, DOST and DA.
Owners of food-related establishments shall submit a report to the DSWD and the DENR to include data on the amount (in tons) of their edible and inedible food surplus, organized according to the manner of disposal, including donation, and composting or discarding.
The penalty of prison mayor shall be imposed on anyone found reselling donated food surplus. If the offender is a juridical entity, the responsible officers shall be held liable.
A fine of P500,000 shall be imposed on anyone who makes edible food surplus unfit for consumption or prevent the redirection of edible food surplus to food banks or inedible food surplus to waste management and recycling enterprises.
With Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz