IT was on Christmas day when the finance chief, who is also a former agriculture secretary, reminded the country of the difficulties confronting the Philippine farm sector. In a recent business forum, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said even the private sector has started worrying about the problems hounding the agriculture sector. (See, “Agriculture sector’s woes worry Duterte govt, private sector—DOF,” in the Business-
Mirror, December 25, 2018). The ills that have long plagued the sector—low productivity, inability of farmers to access affordable credit, lack of infrastructure—made it difficult for the government to ensure that the country can produce enough food needed by 106 million Filipinos.
While the acceleration of inflation, which peaked in September 2018, was unfortunate for millions of Filipinos, it focused the spotlight on a sector that has been neglected for years. Nearly 11 years after the Philippines was forced to pay through its nose for imported rice, it took several tweaks in the Department of Agriculture’s farm policies, as well as increases in its budget that enabled the agency to roll out a number of initiatives seeking to raise productivity and income.
One such initiative is the mechanization program of the government. Increasing productivity cannot be done sans the equipment that would help farmers do their work and cut costs. In February 2018, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol announced that the government has earmarked P400 million for the program that would encourage farmers to take out loans if they want to buy agricultural equipment. (See, “Piñol announces P400-M farm mechanization loan program,” in the BusinessMirror, February 20, 2018). The government is also moving toward encouraging foreign businessmen to invest in the assembly of farm equipment in the Philippines. (See, “South Korean firms to assemble farm machines in PHL,” in the Business-Mirror, November 22, 2018).
Part of the mechanization program is the pilot testing of drones to spray fertilizer on vegetable farms in Benguet. Apart from cutting cost, drones will keep farmers from getting sick, as they will no longer have direct contact with dangerous chemicals. Because of these advantages, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has also started testing drones in rice farms and is hopeful that young Filipinos will be encouraged to go into planting rice. (See, “Drones may attract youth to rice farming—PhilRice,” in the
BusinessMirror, December 11, 2018).
The decision of the Philippine Fiber Industry and Development Authority to strictly enforce a classification-trading scheme for abaca starting 2018 has encouraged farmers to produce more. The resulting increase in the price of the iconic Philippine fiber is likely to have expanded output by 6 percent to 76,000 metric tons in 2018, from the previous year’s 72,000 MT. (See, “Abaca output seen rising as overseas demand soars,” in the BusinessMirror, January 1, 2019). The Philippines is still the world’s top producer and supplier of abaca, and the government would do well to capitalize on this to help boost export receipts.
The opening up of more export markets via trade deals forged by the government in recent years will also allow the Philippines to improve its export numbers. The Philippines can look to its neighbors in Southeast Asia and the members of the European Free Trade Association if it intends to increase its shipments of agricultural products. Manila has yet to take full advantage of the Asean Free Trade Area and the government would do well to undertake a study that will identify more products it can export to this market.
The Duterte administration still has more than three years to implement other strategies for the agriculture sector under its Philippine Development Plan. There is no magic pill that can instantly remove the ills plaguing the farm sector, but inaction and complacency will make it harder for Philippine agriculture to fully recover.