The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it’s only a matter of time before the majority of the country's farmers bid farewell to farming due to old age, and that the agriculture sector will soon be taken over by millennials. Agriculture Secretary William Dar said since the average age of...
Year-Ender Agriculture Secretary William Dar (MANILA BULLETIN) The Philippines' agriculture sector has survived a volcano eruption that blanketed tons of farm yield with ashes and sustained production within three quarters into the pandemic, but it only took three typhoons to expose its...
Even if a group of farmers in the Philippines said it may take a while for them to recover from Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses, a foreign agency is convinced that these typhoons that struck the country last month will not have a significant impact on next year’s production. “The recent...
The senate proposal to use excess rice tariff collections exclusively for cash aid for farmers may be discriminatory to some farmers, a top official from the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) said. In a statement, FFF National Manager Raul Montemayor said the proposal, which is contained in...
The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) senate-approved budget for 2021 is P86 billion, which is only 30 percent of the agency’s original budget proposal of P280 billion. In a statement, DA said the senate in a plenary session approved the proposed P85.58-billion budget of the DA, including those...
In addressing the continuous decline in palay prices, the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) is asking the government to follow the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) and impose safeguard duties on rice imports instead of resorting to decisions such as the proposed suspension on the issuance of sanitary...
The one-time financial assistance that the Senate directed the Department of Agriculture (DA) to provide to rice farmers amid the declining prices of palay would not be enough, a group of rice farmers said. (MB file, Keith Bacongco) Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) National Manager Raul Montemayor...
The Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) has resulted in the retrenchment of hundreds of employees in the National Food Authority (NFA) and the removal of the government's power to regulate rice prices, but the state-run grains agency is making it clear that they are not in favor of calls to amend the law....
Farmers are seeking the intervention of lawmakers for the declining prices of palay, which was triggered by several factors including the National Food Authority’s (NFA) limited capacity to procure rice as well as traders’ decision to delay their purchase in anticipation of more imported rice...
The Bureau of Customs further stepped up its campaign against rice smuggling even amid the coronavirus pandemic by conducting raids on warehouses suspected of storing illegally imported stocks of the grain in response to reports by concerned citizens. Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo...
As the prices of palay sank to as low as P12 per kilogram (/kg) in some areas, Senator Risa Hontiveros agreed there is a need to amend the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) and promised to convince the law's author and fellow senator, Cynthia Villar, about it....
