“… The highest priority of the Government should be given to two areas of concern: [the second] how to improve the productivity of the agricultural sector… Top officials of the Department of Agriculture outlined the key pillars of the ongoing programs to improve agricultural productivity that they wish would be adopted by the next Administration. These are consolidation, modernization, industrialization and professionalization.”
… Consolidation should especially refer to the amalgamation of small farms, especially in the coconut and sugar sectors, into large units that will help the attainment of economies of scale in mechanization, industrialization and digitalization. A quantum leap in agricultural productivity in these and other sectors (such as fruit and vegetable farming) can be attained if we are able to distinguish between the ownership and the actual use and management of farms. The small farmers owning one to two hectares of land substantially increase their incomes if they are able to join cooperatives, nucleus estates, “corporatives” and other forms of large-scale farming through the lease of their land to the organizing enterprise. It is [also] important to introduce solar energy in remote areas that are off the grid.
Finally, professionalization should be pursued at all levels of the supply chain in agribusiness (farming, post-harvest, cold storage, processing and manufacturing, retailing, etc.) through more relevant Agritech courses that are not part of the formal education sector. We need to orient many more our youth to tech-voc programs that cultivate relevant skills that do not need a college degree.
Also ride on the wave of non-farmers becoming “plantitos” and “plantitas” investing some of their savings in cultivating small plots of vegetable gardens. The slogan “Plant, Plant, Plant” should be addressed… to middle-class households who have both the small plot of land and the working capital to produce such products as lettuce, cabbage, pepper, papaya and others that agritech firms like Harbest and East West Seeds are making available.
… In the third installment of his article “Transitioning to the Next Administration” published in Manila Bulletin, Dr. Bernardo Villegas explains the important role that agriculture will play in the coming years to the Philippine economy and provides tips and suggestions on how to further develop agribusiness and cultivate our farmers’ skills with the help of technology. In addition, the booming demand for plants by the so-called “plantitos” and “plantitas” can help promote farming in the country
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