A party-list group representing the agriculture sector has echoed the call of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol for government to pour more funds into agriculture to increase the sector’s productivity.
Piñol’s statement was made in light of concern expressed by Socioeconomic Planning Sec. Ernesto Pernia over the sector’s “stagnant performance” for the second quarter of 2018.
The agriculture sector registered a 0.2 percent growth for the second quarter.
The sector’s weak performance during the period—with a growth rate pegged at 0.7 percent— was due mainly to a decline in the output of the crops sub-sector, which is the biggest contributor to its total production.
“With the hike in prices of basic commodities, it is imperative that we do our utmost to improve agricultural productivity.”
The number was below the 2.5 to 3.5 percent annual growth rate target for the sector under the 2017-2022 Philippine Development Plan of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and far from the annual farm growth rate target of 4 percent by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
“We agree with Sec. Piñol that if we wish to make the agriculture sector more productive, we should invest in it,” AGRI Party-list Secretary General Benjie Martinez said.
“AGRI Party-list has always pushed for support not only for the sector itself, but also for its workers,” Martinez added.
Martinez said the agriculture sector should have a larger share of the national budget, as this sends the message that government is intent on improving the sector.
“We agree with Sec. Piñol that if we wish to make the agriculture sector more productive, we should invest in it.”
This, however, is not the case, he said, with the DA getting a budget for 2019 of P49.8 billion—way below its P123.7 billion proposal. For this year, the department got an allocation of P53.4 billion, up by 16.3 percent from last year.
Martinez added that AGRI Party-list will also support the manifesto that the DA would be issuing.
“The importance of the agriculture sector in ensuring food security can never be stressed enough. With the hike in prices of basic commodities, it is imperative that we do our utmost to improve agricultural productivity so we can provide our people with cheap and quality food,” Martinez said.