Dar’s leadership will spur agricultural growth

SECRETARY

William D. Dar’s appointment to the Agriculture Department last week is an inspired move by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Philippine agriculture grew highest in the country’s history – registering an unprecedented growth of 9.6% in 1999 – when Sec. Dar held the position even in an acting capacity from July, 1998, to May, 1999, in the administration of then President Joseph Estrada.

At that time, local government officials under the Union of Local Authorities and the League of Provinces which I then headed collaborated with Secretary Dar in implementing various agricultural programs and projects nationwide. He knew and understood that without the primary and active involvement of local governments in agriculture, all attempts to achieve food security in the country would be in vain.

That collaboration resulted in the agriculture sector’s unprecedented growth despite an unfortunate El Niño episode then. Compare the 9.6% growth in 1999 to that of 2018 when the sector reportedly “grew by a mere 0.9%” or less than 1 percent, and the stark difference is obvious.

Up to now, the achievements of the Department of Agriculture (DA) when Dr. Dar was at the helm have indeed been unsurpassed. Over the years and across previous administrations, the agriculture sector has been seen as the “laggard industry of the Philippine economy” with its performance characterized as “erratic and subpar” relative to other economic sectors.

Posting low and inconsistent growth rates that have often been way below the country’s GDP growth, agriculture’s contribution to economic growth is frequently described as negligible.

“Had the agriculture sector grown at its potential of 4 percent in 2018, full-year economic growth would have reached 6.5 percent, equal to the low-end of the government’s revised growth target,” a published analysis pointed out. “However, the sector contributed a mere 0.1 percentage point to the full-year growth rate of 6.2 percent.”

The failure of agriculture to attain its potential contribution to overall economic growth, despite the large number of people in rural areas depending on it for livelihood, is being blamed primarily on “inadequate policies, vulnerability to natural hazards, and bureaucratic mismanagement.”

But with Secretary Dar steering anew Philippine agriculture, the situation is bound to change for the better. And, hopefully, new heights might be reached with his inspiring leadership and expertise.

Dr. Dar’s expertise in agriculture was bolstered by his experience, after his earlier stint at the DA, of being the “only Filipino who led a global agricultural research institute — the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in India, serving for an unprecedented three five-year terms, from 2000 to 2014. He left a legacy benefitting millions of farmers in India, Africa, and other dryland countries, including the Philippines.”

Sec. Dar said he will pursue a “new thinking” for agriculture to “realize the vision of President Duterte for a food-secure Philippines and to double the income of farmers and fisherfolk.” He proposes a strategy built around eight paradigms – agriculture modernization, agriculture industrialization, exports promotion, farm consolidation, roadmap development, infrastructure development, higher budget and investments for agriculture, and legislative support.

He said modernization and use of modern technology “must cover all crops, including those with export potential in processed or value-added form like coffee, cacao, cassava, tropical fruits, rubber, among others.” He stressed the need to diversify crop production “as about 80 percent of the country’s farmlands are devoted to only three crops: rice, corn, and coconut.”

On industrialization of agriculture, Secretary Dar pointed out that while productivity increase is a major objective, “it is equally important to produce more income by value adding, processing, manufacturing, and developing markets for both raw and processed agricultural products.”

He cited the need to engage the private sector to invest and set up more agri-based industries in the countryside and develop markets for agri products. Also needed is the “digitization of farming and agribusiness activities in the country where credit is made available, affordable, and accessible.”

Secretary Dar said there ought to be a systematic and long-term strategy in developing and promoting exports of raw and processed agricultural products, to achieve economies of scale in on-farm production that would generate sustained quantity and quality of export products.

The role of the private sector is essential in exports promotion, he said. He explained that currently, “the Philippines has only two agricultural products that earn at least $1 billion per year in export receipts – bananas and coconut products (mostly in oil form). Thailand has 13 types of farm exports earning over $1 billion each year, Indonesia has five, and Vietnam has seven.”

To attain economies of scale for crops requiring mechanization and massive use of technology, Secretary Dar said government must promote and support farm consolidation with schemes that include “block farming, trust farming, contract farming, and corporative farming that will make farming more efficient, where technology is used, where cost of production is reduced, and farm productivity and incomes are increased.”

A roadmap for agriculture, with “big ideas” generated by government using inputs from stakeholders, “should also actively involve the private sector, which may have more access to the export markets and funding for research for development,” he explained.

He said a “build, build, build” program for agriculture is necessary to improve linkages to urban/domestic and export markets through logistics and infrastructure development. He also cited the need to engage the private sector in a “build and transfer” scheme to accelerate development of national irrigation systems.

With Dr. Dar’s brilliant ideas and sterling track record, many believe that a dramatic turnaround in the otherwise sluggish performance of Philippine agriculture is finally on the horizon.