For a Filipino, a meal is not complete without rice, so much so that our country is among the world’s top rice consumers. Even with this high demand, the equation seems off — our country, which was once the world’s top rice producer, is now among the top importers surpassing Japan and the US....
For Filipino farmers, hybrid seeds are no longer needed for the country to achieve rice self-sufficiency. Peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) hit the national government’s plan to maximize the use of hybrid seeds, calling it “more disadvantageous than helpful.” (Manila...
To address production problems amid the dry season, a strategy plan is now being developed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to promote the planting of hybrid seeds to 1.5 million hectares of rice land during the dry season. Rice (Photo courtesy of Pixabay) In a recent press briefing,...
Malacañang announced that the Department of Agriculture (DA) has set aside P326.97 million intended to boost the onion industry. (Photo courtesy of DA) The allocated fund will be used for onion production, production-related equipment, farm inputs, and cold storage facilities, according to the...
The Department of Agriculture (DA) will soon launch the Optimization and Resiliency In the Onion Industry Network (ORION) Program in a bid to help the local onion industry improve its production and eventually lead to an ample supply of the agriculture product in the country. Onions (Mark...
Alarmed by the decline in the country’s agri-fisheries production, fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) urged the administration to “take immediate action” and appoint a competent agri chief. Citing the Philippine Statistics Authority’s data,...
CREBA SPEAKS By Charlie A. V. Gorayeb, national chairman of CREBA Article XIII, Section 9 of the Philippine Constitution mandates that “the State shall, by law, and for the common good, undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a continuing program of urban land reform and housing.” In...
Although it has a shoreline of 36,000 kilometers, the Philippines imports 93 percent or 550,000 metric tons of salt for its requirement. “We should look at the salt industry as an added income source to fishermen during the dry season and the possibility of exporting Philippine sea salt,”...
A pro-farmer congressman said he expects the P30-billion increase in this year's agriculture sector budget to translate to improved services for local farmers, which would in turn help keep food prices down. Onions at a Quezon City supermarket (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN) AGRI Party-list...
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform on Wednesday, January 11 started tackling the bill that seeks to promote and improve the country’s yellow corn industry. Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate agriculture panel, noted how local production of the crop is on an...
Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) once again called on the national government to “end importation” and instead “strengthen the local production” of fish. (Unsplash) According to the fisherfolk group, importation harms local production and displaces...
Factory output increased at a much faster pace in November due to strong manufacturing of machinery and equipment, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday, Dec. 6. In its Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI), the PSA said the country's volume of production...
