Amid growing opposition against the proposed Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund (Coco Levy Act), which will pave the way for the release of the P100-billion coco levy fund, Agriculture Secretary William Dar has made an appeal to coconut farmers to give the law a chance. Agriculture Secretary...
After three strong typhoons, the Philippines’ palay production for this year will no longer reach 20 million metric tons (MT) like what the Department of Agriculture (DA) was originally aiming for. For the last quarter of 2020, rice production is expected to reach 7.42 million MT, bringing this...
More than a week since Typhoon Ulysses, the deadliest typhoon to hit the Philippines so far for this year, made landfall in Quezon province, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it had so far distributed P1.43 billion worth of farm and fishery inputs, farm machinery, livelihood projects, and...
The agriculture sector may be severely battered by Typhoon Quinta and Super Typhoon Rolly, but the country is still seen to end the year with higher palay output of 20 million metric tons (MT). "We hope and pray that in the remaining eight weeks of the year, we will be spared from strong...
A year and three months into his position, Agriculture Secretary William Dar has finally decided to shake things up at the Department of Agriculture (DA) with a major reshuffle followed by a series of appointments. Agriculture Secretary William Dar (Photo credit: https://www.da.gov.ph/) For some of...
With only about two months left in 2020, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) is still targeting to end 2020 with slightly higher amount of loans lent to the agriculture sector. In a statement, LANDBANK expects to further expand its agricultural loan portfolio to P245 billion by the end of...
Despite the latest warning of the Brazilian government to file legal cases against the Philippine government before the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Department of Agriculture (DA) is determined to keep the disputed import ban on poultry meat coming from the South American country. Department...
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is considering temporary suspension of the inter-island movement of live hogs as the agency investigates the skyrocketing prices of pork in the country. A draft DA administrative order has called for "temporary suspension of inter-island movement to Visayas and...
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri has raised concerns over the recent appointments at Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), which were formalized in separate allegedly falsified documents containing Agriculture Secretary William Dar’s signature without his knowledge. Sen. Juan Miguel...
Local food producers across all agricultural sectors – palay, corn, hogs, poultry, and fishery – have complained about a sector-wide crisis being experienced now in agriculture, which they said was triggered by low farm-gate prices, falling production, and lack of government support. In a...
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has finally issued the guidelines for the enforcement of Vessel Monitoring Measures (VMM) and installment of Electronic Reporting System (ERS), a move that will intensify the government’s fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU)...
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...
