More reforms are needed to energize the farm sector and boost the growth of the economy, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Tuesday.
Dominguez urged stakeholders in the agribusiness sector at the opening of the Sulong Pilipinas Agribusiness Summit in Davao City to think out of the box and come up with bold ideas to help the government reinvigorate the agriculture sector.
Dominguez said while President Rodrigo Duterte had demonstrated decisive leadership in passing agriculture-friendly reforms such as the Rice Tariffication Law, more policy initiatives were needed to enable the farm sector to reach its full potential on his watch.
The RTL has lowered the retail cost of rice for over 100 million consumers and established an annual P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, which is aimed to boost rice productivity by providing farmers with modern farm machinery and equipment, high-yield seeds, low-interest and accessible credit, and skills training programs on farm mechanization and modern farming techniques.
