The government is finally devoting its time to modernize the country's agriculture sector.
Agriculture is probably one of the major underperforming sectors of the economy despite employing 23.5 percent of the country's population. It has lagged behind its Asian neighbors, notably Vietnam and Thailand whose fruit orchards and aqua-culture farms are major exporters to the region.
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority and the Department of Agriculture early this week signed an agreement that will commit the two to facilitate the creation of agro-industrial and aquamarine economic zones in the Philippines. This agreement will hopefully herald the modernization of the agriculture sector and offer farmers an option to diversify crop production and reduce their dependence on rice farming.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar stressed the importance of “promoting and supporting investments to agricultural-oriented activities through the granting of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives and development of agro-industrial, aquamarine, and agro-forestry special ecozones.”
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, meanwhile, egged the private sector “to think out of the box” and come up with bold ideas to help the government reinvigorate the agriculture sector. A Canadian company is thinking like that. It signed an agreement with PEZA to establish an initial 50-hectare agro-industrial zone devoted solely for cacao production and exports.
It is not too late for the Philippines to emulate Thailand's success in producing export quality fruits and the achievements of Vietnam in aqua farming that boosted the incomes of many farmers.
The Rice Tariffication Law should start the modernization of agriculture in the Philippines. It established an annual P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund aimed at boosting 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.
Modernizing the agriculture sector is the fastest way to reduce the poverty incidence in the Philippines.