By Cielito M. Reganit
MANILA, Feb. 5 (PNA) — After successfully putting Philippine agriculture back on track last year following the ravages brought by several calamities in 2013, most notably typhoon Yolanda, the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday said that the country’s agriculture sector is well-positioned to sustain its growth momentum this year.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that for 2015, the DA will vigorously pursue rural infrastructure and technology build-up that will further develop and modernize the agricultural economy in order to help fuel this expansion.
Citing last week’s statement of Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan on the fourth quarter and the full year 2014 economic performance, the DA chief said growth areas include the crops subsectors led by rice and corn.
“Fisheries is also expected to recover from last year’s slowdown, while livestock and poultry is projected to register a respectable expansion,” Alcala noted.
“The noteworthy performance of Philippine agriculture in 2014, notably the 4.8 percent increase in output in the fourth quarter of 2014 from the 0.9 percent growth in the same period in 2013, indicates that the industry is firmly into the path of sustained expansion,” he said.
“Growth was achieved despite the strong typhoons that battered some key production areas,” he added.
Overall, the agri-fishery sector grew by 1.83 percent last year in terms of volume and nearly 10 percent in terms of value, the Philippine Statistics Authority said in a separate report.
It was another banner year particularly for the palay and corn subsectors whose output reached new historical highs.
Palay output reached 19 million metric tons, or 2.87 percent more than last year’s harvest, while corn production, which was at 7.8 million metric tons, was higher by 5.33 percent.
With the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III reaching the homestretch, Alcala said DA has switched to high gear in the implementation of its continuing initiatives, including the Food Staples Sufficiency Program and its directorate programs for rice, corn, livestock and poultry, fisheries and high value crops.
“Our tasks at the DA continue to revolve around the goals of sustained food security and increased rural incomes but with stronger emphasis on equitable progress in keeping with President Aquino’s inclusive growth agenda,” the DA chief said.
“To attain these objectives, DA has intensified the implementation of its Farm Mechanization, National Organic Agriculture and Post-Harvest Development Programs across all commodity programs to minimize the cost of production, reduce post-harvest losses, and stabilize labor costs,” Alcala said.
This year also marks the formal start of its World Bank-supported Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), a six-year initiative that aims improve rural infrastructure to enhance productivity, connectivity and integration of production areas to markets.PRDP actually commenced in 2014 when the preparatory activities took place, including the formulation of commodity investment plans of participating local government units (LGUs).
In PRDP, DA partners with LGUs and the private sector to provide farmers’ and fishers’ groups with key infrastructure, facilities, technology and information in support of their food production, value-adding and marketing activities.
“We want the rural sector to diversify, and produce various commodities of increasingly good quality. That is the key to sustainable food security and inclusive socio-economic prosperity,” Alcala said.
He said that the DA is particularly gearing up for the ASEAN economic integration this year which is expected to usher in more intense competition among Southeast Asian nations for their agri-fishery exports.
“Our preparations also focus on technical and legislative matters, notably, the passage in 2013 of the Food Safety Act and the completion of the IRR in 2014. This piece of legislation directs our industry players to operate following global standards,” the Agri chief said.
“Philippine agriculture needs to explore fully the immense new market opportunities offered by free trade agreements for both traditional and new agricultural exports,” Alcala said. (PNA)