Agriculture
From The Report: The Philippines 2012
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Plans for agriculture in the Philippines include making the world’s largest rice consumer, which currently imports the staple, self-sufficient. Multi-million dollar irrigation projects are currently underway to help achieve this goal, while a National Irrigation Administration is seeking to teach farmers sustainable irrigation techniques. The government is also pushing farmers to adopt more commercial approaches to their businesses, forming cooperatives and specialising in high-value subsectors like organics. Finally, the sugarcane industry, facing the prospect of the sugar market being flooded with cheap imports when ASEAN liberalisation kicks in, is looking toward value-added products like bioethanol.
This chapter includes interviews with Proceso J Alcala, Secretary, Department of Agriculture; and Rica Davila, Chairman and CEO, Lapanday Foods Corporation.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Ready for expansion: Initiatives support industry modernisation and promote exports
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Providing employment for nearly one-third of the country’s 39m-strong workforce and central to supporting domestic food security, agriculture and fisheries is of vital importance to the Philippine economy. The government is well aware of the need for stability and steady growth. Current strategic priorities aim to expand planted crop area, increase yields through irrigation and the introduction of hybrid grains, encourage economies of scale through cooperatives and associations, and support…

Analysis

The road to self-sufficiency: Upgrades to irrigation infrastructure will bolster food security
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When typhoons Pedring and Quiel hit the Banaue Rice Terraces in Batad, Ifugao – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – in September 2011, its ancient irrigation infrastructure was severely affected, causing damage to crops, livestock and infrastructure estimated at P872m ($19.8m). The prominence of these natural disasters reignited calls for upgrades to irrigation systems to reduce risks to food production. INFRASTRUCTURE IN FOCUS: The Banaue Rice Terraces are now the subject of a proposed rehabilitation…

Interview

A multi-pronged approach: OBG talks to Proceso Alcala, Secretary, Department of Agriculture
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Interview:Proceso Alcala How would you rate the state of agricultural infrastructure in the country? What areas are most in need of investment moving forward? PROCESO ALCALA: While much has been accomplished over the past 1.5 years, much remains to be done, and we are now focusing especially on the development of post-harvest facilities. More than 12% of overall agricultural production in the Philippines is lost to wastage due to a lack of post-harvest facilities, which is far too much food…

Interview

OBG talks to Rica Davila, Chairman and CEO, Lapanday Foods Corporation
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Interview:Rica Davila What are the most important recent initiatives that have helped modernise the agriculture sector? RICA DAVILA: The opening of the Philippine market to imported fruit and vegetables from foreign producers has forced local players to improve their operations and adapt to new realities in the market. Philippine companies that want to survive have been pushed to be more efficient in their production techniques to compete with the likes of China, which can deliver produce…

Analysis

Ambitious aims: Diversifying the sugarcane segment into new growth areas
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Plans to use sugarcane for the cultivation of a number of new products and growth markets are under way in the Philippines. Having nearly reached self-sufficiency in sugar, industry representatives and regulators have laid out a roadmap with several objectives designed to raise exports, use sugarcane to produce bioethanol, increase its contribution to power generation and to create further efficiencies to reduce production costs. These initiatives are also designed to upgrade competitiveness…

Analysis

All natural: Developing the organic segment in line with an expanding global market
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With the Philippines’ government actively working to encourage its development, organic farming is an area ripe with opportunity for the agricultural investor. Indeed, while “going organic” may be a new and unfamiliar proposition for some of the country’s conventional farmers, proper support from the government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will help to develop the organic foods sector, which is now seen as a potential path for boosting high-value agricultural exports. BUDGETARY…

Analysis

A mixed basket: Tropical fruits continue to be a profitable export industry
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With its hot weather, abundant rainfall, fertile soil and substantial tracts of arable land, the Philippines is a prime agricultural area for growing a variety of tropical fruits. While already a major global producer of banana, pineapple and mango, the country is looking to boost its exports of these crops still further. Attention is now being given to their export potential to markets such as the US and Europe, where health-conscious consumers are showing increased interest in products made…