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SONA: Unzone agriculture

“If it weren’t for agriculture, there will be no culture at all” – Elwynn Taylor

The third State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. highlighted agriculture and food security. He recognized the government’s “need to import rice due to insufficient local production. Despite harvesting over 200 million tons of rice (the highest since 1987), it wasn’t enough to meet demand.”

He also emphasized the temporary price ceiling for major products such as rice, corn, and pork to address food supply shortage challenges. Capping the agriculture breakthroughs is the land reform program where the government distributed 130,000 land titles in the last two years. The collective Certificate of Land Ownership Awards distribution hastened the process. The President recognizes the role of agriculture in the economy, and on its way modernization by way of technological advancement directly benefiting Filipino farmers towards uplifting their lives and contributing to the economic growth.

THE RICE SAGA

Rice, as a staple, must be given a priority in almost all aspects. It is one of the major sources of livelihood of almost 3 million Filipino farmers and a symbol of our culture. More importantly, securing supply of rice is ensuring food security. We consume almost 120 kilograms per capita each year, which is almost double the global average of 65 kilograms. The year 2019 was a historic year for Filipinos in terms of rice as every Filipino was estimated to have consumed 192 kilograms per capita. Unfortunately, the Rice Tariffication Law was passed in the same year when we had our historic feat in rice consumption. The law paved the way for the influx of cheap imported rice to avert supply challenges, but hurt local rice farmers of their own production. Prior and immediately after the pandemic we achieved another feat as the world’s top rice importer.

HUGGING THE HOG INDUSTRY

The hog industry comes after rice in agriculture in terms of economic contribution – a 200 billion industry and almost 20% of the agriculture, signifying its invaluable contribution to the economy. The availability of vaccines against ASF is a significant step, but it has to be more than that. The Hog Industry Roadmap of the Department of Agriculture summarizes a couple of points: Sustainability and globally competitive by ensuring its “re-population focused on backyard raisers, technical and infrastructure assistance. Obviously not new and may sound reworded or a rehash – which may be true but all we know is that backyard raisers are on their own in the race for the industry’s sustainability.

On the other hand, observers opined that the sector is now priority if not, primacy after decades of neglect. This is according to the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI). While others observed that some of the key points the President made himself were missed out in his SONA such as the Executive Order 62 which is the modification of products and their respective tariff rates.

REFORM AGRICULTURE MORE THAN LAND REFORM

The President’s new agrarian reform law is a major measure at absolving ARB’s in their annual land obligations for decades and ensuring their clear and legitimate ownership of the land. But the ARB’s and farmers’ perennial challenge is the access to credit and capital to make the land productive and realizing the President’s desire of uplifting their lives by freeing them from loan sharks, leaseback threats and becoming laborers of their own land.

New studies have come up that land reform may not be the solution to poverty in rural Philippines anymore, since a new generation of rural communities have shifted from farming. The challenge today is how to connect technology advancement to lure them back into agriculture, since information technology by way of social media platforms are more focused on other fields and disciplines. Rural modernization and gradual industrialization must be an imperative, focusing on the role of the young generation and to bring back their own ideas and ingenuity in their own communities.

UN-ZONE AGRICULTURE

The President’s recent SONA provided excitement and extracted curiosity among supporters and skeptics alike and the burden now lies upon the President himself with marching orders to be swiftly undertaken by his generals. The agriculture part of the speech was flavorful though it was not as rich and thick as the POGO and the West Philippine Sea.

We wish to see agriculture and rural development un-zoned and while we wait to see concrete actions – I would say it was appetizing.*

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February 2025
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