WHETHER in a pandemic or not, there is one priority that cuts across any administration: food production. And the Duterte administration is no different from its predecessors that pursued higher domestic food production, or at least, to a certain extent.
The start of the Covid-19 pandemic ushered in the administration’s mantra of “Plant, Plant, Plant,” a counterpart initiative of its “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure banner. This time, though, it was focused on boosting food supply in a crisis.
The “Plant, Plant, Plant” program is something that the Department of Agriculture (DA) touts as a key part of the Duterte administration’s legacy. Indeed, the current administration has achieved a number of remarkable feats in the agriculture sector.
For one, the Philippines recorded its highest palay production in 2020 at 19.44 million metric tons (MMT). And current production figures and forecast show the country is on track to breach the 20-MMT palay output level this year, setting a new record high.
Aside from high palay production, the DA noted there is “more affordable rice available” in the market today, an echo of what economic managers have been trumpeting since the passage of the rice trade liberalization (RTL) law.
Government officials note that rice prices have remained stable and did not contribute to food inflation following implementation of the RTL law.
President Duterte commended the DA for the record-high rice harvest last year, and for averting a rice price crisis amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The RTL law is one of the key legislative economic measures championed by the administration that will also serve as a cornerstone of agricultural recovery post-pandemic since the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) carries over to the next administration. It is in effect until 2024.
Government officials and experts have noted that the RCEF is a game changer in the rice industry as it seeks to make Filipino rice farmers competitive against Asean counterparts. Not only Filipino rice farmers stand to benefit from the full implementation of RCEF but consumers as well. As the production cost of palay declines—the ultimate goal of the RCEF—the price of rice does, too.
The road beyond the pandemic also requires overcoming the African swine fever (ASF) that has ravaged the local hog sector. Since confirming its first ASF outbreak in 2019, the Philippines has been grappling with the fatal hog disease to date.
However, government officials pointed to a light at the end of the tunnel in the country’s bout with ASF: four areas (three municipalities and one city) in Batangas province have issued a declaration of freedom status from ASF.
The DA has institutionalized measures to combat ASF, particularly its key program called Bantay ASF sa Barangay or BABay ASF, which seeks to strengthen biosecurity measures at the barangay or village level.
On top of this, the DA has kick-started numerous studies on the use of various measures to fight ASF, including an ongoing vaccine trial as well as preliminary field trials of the use of Ivermectin and other agents.
Budget woes
But there’s one thing that stands in the way of the full implementation of necessary measures identified by the DA to eliminate ASF and revitalize the hog industry: budget. DA officials earlier disclosed that it would take at least P34.333 billion to bankroll its three-year ASF recovery program that seeks to bring back and even exceed the country’s pre-ASF pork production level.
The funds will be used to finance the four DA programs: calibrated repopulation and intensified production; establishment of swine breeder multiplier farms; provision of insurance premium; and biosecurity and surveillance programs.
Through these programs, the DA said it aims to produce 440,563 breeders in the next three years, or more than enough to compensate for the estimated 332,928 breeders lost as of January 1, 2021.
The DA added that by 2023, about 10.5 million finishers would have been produced, equivalent to 738,805 metric tons (MT) of pork. Furthermore, the identified interventions would result in the additional pork output of 84,000 MT for 2021, 238,192 MT by 2022, 474,012 MT by 2023, 809,172 MT by 2024 and 1.144 MMT by 2025.
Industry players and government officials all agree that the Covid-19 pandemic showed one of the weakest links in the government’s interventions in the agriculture sector: lack of funding. The increase in funding for the agriculture sector through the Bayanihan funds paved the way for higher output and recovery of damaged sectors.
The question for the next administration is whether it is willing to pour in money in the agriculture sector to sustain initial efforts to boost farming productivity and aid ailing industries.
Images courtesy of DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Nonie Reyes and BERNARD TESTA