Analysis on agriculture in the Philippines.

Philippines is one of the most beautiful and richest land in the world ーrich in natural

resources such as oil, gas, minerals, farmlands and forests. We also have our scenic spots that

visitors would come to see. These can be the factors of becoming a very prosperous land.

They planned to make the country industrialized by the 2000 yet we are still an

agricultural country. Our agriculture sector is made up of four sectors: farming, fishing,

livestock and forestry. The country's main agricultural crops are rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane,

bananas, pineapple, coffee, mangoes, tobacco, and abaca (a banana-like plant). Secondary

crops include peanut, cassava, camote (a type of root crop), garlic, onion, cabbage, eggplant,

calamansi (a variety of lemon), rubber, and cotton.

Most citizens live on rural areas and keep supporting themselves through agriculture ー

involving about 40 percent of Filipino workers, it contributes an average of 20 percent to the

Gross Domestic Product. This output comes mainly from agribusiness, which in turn accounts

for about 70 percent of the total agricultural output (CIDA-LGSP, 2003).

Philippines is one of the major exporter of its products around the world; this includes

United States of America, Japan and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)

countries. The country's major exports are coconut oil and other coconut products, fruits and

vegetables, bananas, and prawns (a type of shrimp). Other exports include the Cavendish

banana, Cayenne pineapple, tuna, seaweed, and carrageenan.

Despite of everything, our agricultural sector still faces problems such as our farmers

lacks support, training and moral boost. They can’t afford seeds, good fertilizers and pesticides

as they are imported from other countries. Government hasn’t developed any infrastructure that

can make a farmer’s work less difficult; these are the farm-to-market roads, irrigation system,
drying facilities and milling centers, etc. Also, our farmers can’t maximize the use on their land

as they do not own it and that results to low income. They can’t also finance their farming needs

as borrowing institution rates are high and they also lack protection as the middleman exploits

our farmers due to their weaknesses. Therefore, as a result to these concerns there is a

rampant conversion of agricultural land into commercial establishments such as golf courses,

residential subdivisions, parks, malls, or resorts ー it is believed that land- holders find it more

profitable if they sell their lands in exchange for cash.

According to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the performance of our agriculture

from July to September 2018 has decreased by 0.83 percent in the third quarter of 2018. The

crops sub sector which shared 45.58 percent in the total agricultural output recorded a 3.64

percent decline in production. Production in the livestock sub sector grew by 2.15 percent. The

poultry subsector produced 5.45 percent more output this period. Production in the fisheries

sub sector declined by 2.64 percent. The government also recognised the declining

contribution of the agricultural sector in the country’s GDP and this drop in its performance is

attributed to its vulnerability towards extreme weather events (drought and typhoons),

infestations (coconut scale insects), and poor adoption of high-yielding varieties at the end of

the farmers.

Towards these concerns, our government took responsibility to resolve it through CARP

or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, is the redistribution of public and private

agricultural lands to farmers and farmworkers who are landless, irrespective of tenurial

arrangement. CARP’s vision is to have an equitable land ownership with empowered agrarian

reform beneficiaries who can effectively manage their economic and social development to

have a better quality of life.

 One of the major programs of CARP is Land Tenure Improvement, which seeks to

hasten distribution of lands to landless farmers. Similarly, the Department offers Support

Services to the beneficiaries such as infrastructure facilities, marketing assistance program,

credit assistance program, and technical support programs. Furthermore, the department

seeks to facilitate, resolve cases and deliver Agrarian Justice.

The legal basis for CARP is the Republic Act No. 6657 otherwise known as

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) signed by President Corazon C. Aquino on June

10, 1988. It is an act which aims to promote social justice and industrialization, providing the

mechanism for its implementation, and for other purposes. (www.dar.gov.ph)

Yet, even though the government already addressed and taking action for this concern

we are still not improving because of selfishness and corruption in the government.

Sources:

1. Zaide, Gregorio F., and Zaide, Sonia M. Philippine History and Government. ALL-

NATIONS Publishing Co., Inc. Zaide House, 24 Pittsburgh St., Silangan, Cubao,

Quezon City 1102 Philippines, 2013

2. https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Philippines-

AGRICULTURE.html

3. http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ae946e/ae946e03.htm

4. https://psa.gov.ph/content/performance-philippine-agriculture-july-september-2018-1

5. https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/06/18/1825542/agriculture-dying-philippines

6. http://www.dar.gov.ph/ra-6657-what-is-carp-comprehensive-agrarian-reform-program