Philippine Agriculture Secretary William Dar and India Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar agreed to renew their partnership towards stronger technical cooperation and market access to sustainably increase food production for both countries, provide Filipino and Indian farmers with higher income, and achieve a more balanced trade of goods.
Tomar hosted a brief bilateral meeting with Dar and the members of the Philippine delegation at the Indian Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, in Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi recently.
The agriculture chief said the Philippines will benefit greatly from India being the world’s third-ranking rice producer and exporter, and a leader in the development and commercialization of natural and biological farm inputs.
With skyrocketing prices of chemical fertilizers in the world market, compounded by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the agriculture head said the Philippines is compelled to use a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers.
“The Philippines would promote more quality export products to India to attain a more balanced trade.”
He also told Tomar that the Philippines would promote more quality export products to India to attain a more balanced trade.
Last year alone, India exported $450-million worth of products to the Philippines, while buying a measly $50-million worth of Filipino goods.
Tomar and Dar also agreed to renew agricultural cooperation with the creation of a joint technical working group, composed of experts from both countries, that will be tasked to scale up an existing partnership and explore new areas of collaboration, particularly in aquaculture and marine, renewable energy, risk reduction management, and natural and biological farm inputs.
The Philippines-India technical working group will be formed soonest and then schedule for a series of meetings in the next two months.
India’s agriculture minister pledged to support initiatives to level up Philippine agriculture through the installation of various science-backed projects.
During the meeting, Tomar pledged to support initiatives to level up Philippine agriculture through the installation of various science-backed projects including the satellite-based insurance system and soil and water management.
He instructed Indian Council for Agricultural Research Director General Trilochan Mohapatra to extend assistance and oversee that the collaborations will be carried out in partnership with DA’s key technical agencies including the following bureaus: Plant Industry, Animal Industry, Soil and Water Management, and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, among others.
Tomar thanked Dar for visiting India once again, after spending 15 years in Hyderabad as the Director-General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), from 2000 to 2014.
Dar was in New Delhi for the BioAg Asia 2022, a two-day forum on bio-control and bio-stimulant strategies, as well as research and technology of various groups not only in Asia but the rest of the world, including the Philippines. He chaired two panel discussions on Policy and Business Environment in Major Asian Countries and Bio Agriculture – Global Perspectives and Asian Markets.
The first Filipino to head a global agriculture R&D facility, he successfully transformed ICRISAT into one of the best centers in the world in terms of innovative agricultural research for development programs, impact on smallholder farmers in India, Africa, and the rest of the world, and financial health and stability.
Joining Dar during the bilateral meeting were Philippine Ambassador to India Ramon Bagatsing, Jr., Acting Deputy Chief of Mission John Boitte Santos, Vice Consul Mark Anthony Dizon, DA Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes, DA’s Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority Deputy Director Myer Mula, Head Executive Assistant Alexander Arizabal, and Planters Products Inc. President Mat Maderazo.
