The pressure of investment in the farm is allowed to increase the budget, said Agri dep
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has said that investment in agriculture is profitableffrom the agricultural budget that has been increasing since President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jrfsnow.
In a keynote address at the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines’ Food Security Forum in Makati, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. highlighting the huge resources available to the DA, from P117 billion in 2022 to P215 billion in 2026.
Mr. Laurel made her comments days before the President’s fifth State of the Union Address on July 27.
“Investment is where change begins. It buys tractors instead of excuses. It builds irrigation instead of promises. It finances laboratories, hatcheries, livestock farms, cold storage facilities, post-harvest systems, and digital infrastructure,” said Mr. Laurel.
“It turns research into production and production into low food prices,” he added.
Mr. Laurel noted that despite challenges such as a changing climate and persistent animal diseases, agricultural and fisheries production will grow by 2.6% by 2025, while gross value added will increase by 3.1%.
He highlighted the DA’s efforts to balance the importation of rice, expand KADIWA government subsidized stores, introduce new maximum suggested retail prices, increase the inventory of the National Food Authority, and sell rice to vulnerable members of the public at P20 per kilo.
Mr. Laurel also commented on the DA’s plans to invest in agricultural infrastructure such as large feedlots, feedlots, modern agricultural facilities and fish hatcheries.
Mr. Laurel said the DA’s legislative agenda includes the Rice Industry and Consumer Empowerment Act and the Animal Industry Development and Competitiveness Act.
Other highlights include the establishment of a vaccine development center at the Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija, the expansion of the DA’s agricultural workforce, and the launch of the Agricultural Command Center and the Central Agricultural Data Ecosystem platform.
On the forum’s side, Mr. Laurel said the DA continues to crack down on smuggling and profiteering, citing more than 100 notices for violations of the P50 price of 5% broken rice.
In conjunction with the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the DA also assisted in the seizure of undisclosed goods, smuggled cigarettes, and 200 tons of expired meat products.
Mr. Laurel noted that although the DA has no enforcement powers, the BoC has prosecuted many violators.
Mr. Laurel said that the DA will also oversee the construction of roads from farms to the market for the first time, saying that this program, which was obtained through the Public Works Department, is expected to be “quick, complete and very transparent.”
Mr. Laurel said remaining challenges include unirrigated fields, high transportation costs, unfunded research, and climate change, noting that the agricultural sector of the domestic product is intact. decreased to 7.9% in 2025 from 19% in 2005. Marron Joshua F. Mendoza
