Agriculture
From The Report: Philippines 2019
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While the country is well positioned to tap into new export markets, volatile weather conditions, land reform issues and a legacy of neglect continue to hinder agricultural output, preventing the Philippine agriculture sector from reaching its true potential. In addition to these constraints, the Philippines lags behind regional competitors in mechanisation adoption rates, crop research and access to finance. While the sector has suffered from low total factor productivity – a measure of land, labour, capital and material resources used in production, compared to total agricultural output – the country has natural attributes that make it well placed to achieve greater agricultural diversification and productivity. This chapter also contains an interview with Henry Lim Bon Liong, Chairman and CEO, SL Agritech.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Room to grow: Infrastructure development and new legislation are set to help the sector realise its full potential
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Driven by economic reform and robust domestic consumption, the Philippines now ranks among the fastest-growing economies in the world, after seven consecutive years of GDP growth above 6%. Despite this, however, the agriculture sector has struggled to reach its true potential. While the country is well positioned to tap into new export markets, volatile weather conditions, land reform issues and a legacy of neglect continue to hinder agricultural output. In addition to these constraints,…

Interview

Rice in demand: Henry Lim Bon Liong, Chairman and CEO, SL Agritech, on meeting rising domestic needs and exporting to Asian markets
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Interview:Henry Lim Bon Liong What will be the impact of lifting limits on rice imports and the introduction of the Rice Tariffication Act on the agriculture sector? HENRY LIM BON LIONG: The competitiveness of the Philippines’ rice production has fluctuated over time. In the 1960s the country’s output was higher than that of both Thailand and Vietnam, which are the largest exporters among the ASEAN countries today. Inadequate infrastructure development, more specifically the lack of dam…

Analysis

Grain gains: Restrictions on rice imports have been lifted under new legislation aimed at bridging the supply gap and reducing prices
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In February 2019 President Rodrigo Duterte ratified the Rice Tariffication Law, which was passed by the legislature in November 2018. The new law, which went into effect on March 5, lifts quantitative restrictions on rice imports and eliminates the role of the National Food Authority (NFA) regarding imports, thus allowing licensed private operators to ship in rice directly from abroad. In place of the former restrictions, rice imports from ASEAN member states are subject to a 35% tariff,…