Philippine Agriculture: Today and the Future
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PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE MISSION: AVAILABLE AND AFFORDABLE FOOD by EMMANUEL F. PIÑOL To make food available, farmers and fisherfolk must produce enough for 105 million Filipinos in a country with a population growth of 1.9% every year. To make food affordable, the cost of production must be brought down while the income earning capacity of the people must be raised. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE REALITY: WE ARE COUNTRY OF IRONIES The Philippines has 6 months of rains, typhoons and is inundated by endless floods. But after 3 months of dry spell, we cry “Water!” PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE The Philippines is ranked No. 5 among the world’s countries with the longest shorelines at 39,285 kilometers but we are not the top fisheries, aqua and marine products producer. In fact, we still import some fisheries and marine products and our fingerlings for the national fish “Bangus” and shrimps. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Rice is our staple food and the foremost research body for the crop - the International Rice Research Institute - is based in Los Baños, Laguna yet we are one of the biggest importers of rice in the world. There are 247 large rivers in the country, thousands of tributaries, creeks, springs, watershed areas and rich aquifers but only 1.4-million of the estimated 3.1-million hectares planted to rice are served by irrigation water. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE The Philippines is a land of verdant plains and lush vegetation ideal for animal feeds but we are a heavy importer of beef and 99% of dairy and milk requirements come from foreign lands. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE The country has a land so fertile that one Israeli agriculturist once said that the Philippines could produce enough food to feed the world and seas so wide and islands so plentiful we could not even get the exact number. Yet the poorest sectors of society are in farming and fisheries. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE DIAGNOSIS: A NATION OF TWISTED PSYCHE “Hulog ng Langit,” “Biyaya ng Maykapal” are phrases which indicate the kind of mindset Filipinos have. We always look up to the heavens for our salvation from poverty. We always hope that one day, the blessings would fall from the heavens and bring relief to our sufferings as a people. In agriculture and fisheries, this mindset is reflective at how we lap up every new product and idea presented to us in glowing anecdotes and narratives. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE The “Golden Kuhol” was introduced to the country as a priceless source of protein and the first recipients of the breeding materials from overseas did not even want to share it. Today, it is a pest to the rice farmers. The “Jathropha” received a P1-B support fund supposedly because it promised a rich source of bio-diesel which would earn millions for the farmers. It ended up as a big flop and earned the anger and ire of the farmers who felt they were duped. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE The list of the expensive but fruitless experiments is long: cotton, ramie, Asian carp, Taiwan hito and many others. The endemic and native products which the Philippines could offer to the world and dominate the market have been neglected, sometimes even forgotten. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE The Philippines used to be Number 1 in Coconut. Thailand has overtaken us. In many stores in the United States of America, coconut products from Thailand are sold. Abaca is endemic to the Philippines but we have neglected the product and now Ecuador which got its planting materials of the Manila Hemp from the Philippines is fasttracking its Abaca development program. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE “Bangus” is our national fish but we are importing our fingerlings from Taiwan. Worse, we are losing the foreign market to them when our “Bangus” is described by foreign buyers are best in quality. “Milagrosa,” the aromatic rice found only in the Philippines has been developed by Thailand and now marketed world- wide as Jasmine Rice. Worse, they have claimed the brand name as theirs. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Banana, pineapple, Durian, Malunggay, Mangosteen, Cacao, Coffee, Rubber, Oil Palm, Carageenan, Tuna, shrimps, crabs and dried fish are high-value products the Philippines could excel in but these sectors have largely been left by government to fend for themselves. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Pork, Chicken, Beef and ducks are other high value commodities the Philippines could produce in great volume because of the availability of feed materials - grains, copra meal, fish meal, oyster and seashells, molasses and hay - but we are importing these from other countries. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE SOLUTION: BACK TO THE BASIC The country’s agriculture and fisheries program must go back to the basic - Produce Food and Address Poverty. The programs of the Department of Agriculture now would be focused on two areas: 1.) Staple Food Commodities to ensure food security; 2.) High Value Crops to generate jobs and foreign earnings. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE The first question would be: “What do Filipinos eat and where and how do we produce these commodities?” The second question is: “What do the local and foreign markets need which the Philippines could produce?” PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE So, what food do Filipinos need? On top of the list would be rice, corn, chicken, meat, milk and dairy products, fish and marine products and fruits, especially bananas. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE And what products could be grown and raised in the Philippines which are in demand in the local and foreign markets? Coconut is No. 1. Then there is Cavendish and Lacatan banana, pineapple, cacao, coffee, rubber, oil palm, abaca, shrimps, fish and marine products, seaweeds, organically grown rice and vegetables, pork, halal chicken, spices, essential oils and tropical fruits. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE FORMULA: FIRST THINGS FIRST To achieve food sufficiency and maximum productivity in the country, the Department of Agriculture under President Rody Duterte must undertake the implementation of the basic foundations of a sound agriculture and fisheries program. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Step 1: A National Color-Coded Agriculture and Fisheries Map; PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Step 2: A National Food Consumption Quantification Study; PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Step 3: An institutional restructuring and paradigm resetting for the Department of Agriculture and its officials and employees; PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Step 4: An intensive technology updating and sharing, modernization and mechanization program; PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Step 5: An easy access financing program for farmers, fishermen and agriculture and fisheries stakeholders; PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Step 6: A strategic and effective post-harvest, storage and processing facility; PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Step 7: A government-initiated and supported aggressive marketing campaign especially for high-value crops in foreign markets; PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Step 8: A coordinated program with other agencies of government to ensure the protection and preservation of water sources, especially watershed; PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Step 9: A relentless campaign for the enforcement of agricultural and fisheries laws, especially on land conversion and illegal fishing; PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE Step 10: Re-introduction of basic agriculture in the primary and elementary grades of the Philippine schools system with emphasis on the value of the land, water and seas and the maximum but prudent utilization of these resources. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE TARGET: FOOD SUFFICIENCY The DA will now be adopting a policy that the country must strive hard to achieve food sufficiency, especially for our basic and staple food commodities like rice, white corn, meat, poultry, fish and marine products. The thinking that the answer to the country’s shortage on the basic food commodities is simply to import these from neighboring countries is now rendered moot by the fact that our traditional sources of imported food also experienced the ill-effects of climate change. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE The question that hangs over our heads now is: Where would we source our imported food if God forbid El Niño or La Niña would ravage all of East Asia and Southeast Asia? Or, where would we get our imported rice if suddenly the mighty Mekong River overflows its banks and destroys the rice crops of our traditional rice suppliers? It has now become a must that this country must achieve sufficiency in rice and other basic food commodities. It is no longer just a choice. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE For rice, I have designed a program called RIPE or Rice Productivity Enhancement which calls for a thorough review of the country’s water management and irrigation policies, the conduct of a nation-wide soil analysis, an extensive program to improve rice farming technology, the introduction of high-yielding rice varities, effective soil rehabilitation and fertilizer program and modern harvest and post-harvest facilities to minimize losses. PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE: TODAY AND THE FUTURE There must be a viable program to produce more white corn to supply the grains requirements of the corn-eating provinces like Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Bohol, Cebu, Biliran, Leyte, Southern Leyte, the three provinces of Samar and Northern Mindanao. For livestock and poultry, the country must develop its feed components supplies and lessen its dependence on imported materials like soya and even fishmeal to ensure that the cost of production would be lower.