Farmers urged to cooperate with DA

CEBU, Philippines - Filipino farmers are encouraged to work closely with the Department of Agriculture to speed up the creation of an industry roadmap to prepare the industry for the ASEAN Economic Community.

Department of Trade and Industry assistant secretary Rafaelita Aldaba said that there is a need for the DA to revisit its masterplan for the sector to make sure if the plans are aligned with the concerns and needs of the private sector.

Although, there are private-led initiatives to help develop and maximize the potential of the country’s agricultural sector, farmers and other agri-business players play a vital role in the creation of an industry roadmap. Their inputs and concerns are necessary in drafting the regulations and laws for the sector.             

Aldaba said one of the priorities is to help agripreneurs improve their productivity, encourage them to grow high-yielding crops as the sector is looking beyond the 600 million market in the ASEAN and the 100 million domestic market.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Institute for development Studies suggested that the agriculture sector should create a strong organization of farmers and the business sector, because there is a need for capitalists to invest in agriculture to take advantage of the country's rich agri potential.

PIDS senior research fellow Roelhlano Briones said that the agriculture industry in the country should start attracting investments from the business community at the same time farmers should take advantage of the huge potential by making farming a serious business.

“Every farmer should be an entrepreneur. However, in our case, the agriculture here is separated from being a business," Briones said adding that local entrepreneurs don’t see the sector as a thriving industry, the reason why there is no much investments in the sector.

Briones said that one of the reasons the agriculture sector is not doing well is because it hasn’t been linked to business and has been far from the radar of local investors.

Agriculture, therefore should be well integrated with business. This way, inclusive growth can easily be achieved, while modernization in the agriculture sector is expected, if investments will come in.

At present, Briones bared that the country's agriculture sector is swamped with several challenges amid the great potential.

Lack of investments in research and development, insufficient allocation to major and high-value added commodities like rice, coconut and sugarcane, inadequate transport infrastructure, lack of access in technologies, exclusion of farmers from formal financial system, absence of a comprehensive competition law, and infirmities in securing titles and transfers which deter investments especially for long-term projects, are just few of the concerns faced by the sector.

Thus, reforms of the Philippine agriculture will not only depend on the government's programs and policies but also it largely require stakeholders' consultation. A comprehensive agri-business roadmap therefore is important. (FREEMAN)