President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday made a renewed commitment to develop the Philippine agriculture sector to boost the economy and ensure food security, saying the sector has been at the forefront of his overall development agenda.
“Bilang inyong Pangulo ay asahan ninyo na laging susuportahan ang agrikultura ng ating administrasyon. Ito po kaya naman po ako ay inappoint ko po ang sarili bilang Kalihim ng Department of Agriculture dahil po lahat ng aming pag-aaral, lahat ng aming pagplano tungkol sa pagbangon ulit ng ating ekonomiya ay nandiyan lagi ang agrikultura,” President Marcos said during the distribution of projects and programs at the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.
“At kung hindi maganda ang produksyon ng agrikultura ay hindi natin mapapaganda ang ekonomiya. Kaya po naging prayoridad ang agrikultura. Ngayon naging sentro po ng aming mga pinaplano.”
The President particularly highlighted the need for the country to develop its capability to produce its own farm machineries like what is being done at the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) in collaboration with foreign partners.
PhilMech, he said, has locally manufactured machineries for planting, cultivation, harvesting, as well as those intended for post-production. These are in addition to other services such as loans and transport services to farmers and consumers.
“Kung nakikita ninyo ‘yung mga makinarya na naka-display doon sa labas ay para naman tayo ay… [mag-] manufacture tayo ng sarili natin nang sa ganun ay hindi na kailangan tayo umasa sa importation,” he said, noting the country’s reliance to imports was felt during the pandemic lockdowns.
“Ang lahat ay kailangan natin tingnan at pag-aralan para makahanda tayo. Na kung sakali ito’y mauulit ay tayo naman ay may gagawin. Mayroon tayong nakahanda at masasabi natin kahit hindi na tayo mag-import ay mayroon tayong sapat na supply na pagkain para sa ating mga mamamayan. ‘Yan po ang ating hangarin.”
It is the overall goal not only of the Department of Agriculture, but the entire government, he added.
With the looming El Niño, the President said the government is continuously crafting plans and measures to ensure sufficient supply of water such as redesigning dam construction and solar power use.
The government is also looking at improving research and development (R&D) to increase agricultural productivity, he said.
“‘Yan ang ating mga pinapag-aralan nang mabuti upang tayo naman ay makikita namin na gaganda po ang ani… dahil maganda ang R&D natin, maganda ang research and development natin sa mga iba’t ibang varieties,” he said.
“Kung ano ‘yung gagamitin sa dry season, anong gagamitin sa wet season. Hindi lamang para sa palay kung hindi pati na sa lahat ng ibang produkto, ‘yung mga high value products, ‘yung high value agricultural products, kasama na rin po diyan sa ating research and development.”
Central Luzon has been an important region for agricultural production with its 552,105 hectares (ha) of land area devoted to agriculture. More than 80 percent of the region’s land area (463,398 ha) is devoted to rice farming.
Considered the Rice Granary of the Philippines, it has an average annual rice production of 3.66 million metric tons (MMT) for the 2020-2022 period.
The region was also the number one producer of onions in the country at 131,547.77 MT in 2022, devoting 7,866 hectares of its land area for onion cultivation.
The province also has 13,945 commercial livestock and poultry raisers with 36,907 heads of livestock animals, 10.02 million heads of poultry animals, and 33,912 heads of swine.
Meanwhile, there are 203,434 backyard raisers with 124,468 heads of livestock animals; 750,284 heads of poultry animals; and 43,384 heads of swine. (PND)
