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Aspiring president Vice President Leni Robredo is pushing for the modernization of agriculture in the country which is poised to bring various improvements in the sector.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to release P1.3-billion worth of interventions as the agriculture sector reels from the impact of Typhoon Odette, the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year.

State-owned Landbank of the Philippines said that financing support to improve and construct farm infrastructure and post harvest facilities accounted for the bulk of its loans to the agriculture sector.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has already given up on its ambitious growth target of 2 percent for the agriculture sector, but it has remained hopeful that the sector could still pull off a growth of at least below 1 percent following four consecutive quarters of decline.

The output of the country’s agriculture sector has declined further during the third quarter of the year after almost all sub-sectors, mainly livestock and crops, suffered from lower output from July to September.

Partido Reporma chairman and standard bearer Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has called on the Filipino youth to consider agriculture-related courses to boost the country’s agricultural development, which has been taking a back seat in favor of blue and white collared jobs.

Several farmers’ groups have joined forces and raised the need to overhaul the Philippine agriculture sector, demanding the next administration to “transform” the industry for “food security, job creation, and balanced growth”.

The Department of Finance (DOF) has asked the management of the state-run Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) to submit the detailed financial status and computation of its contingent liabilities.

Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar has encouraged the government to review and adjust foreign investments policies that are deemed “unsuited” to the present needs of the agriculture sector in the country.

The Philippine Guarantee Corp. (PhilGuarantee) is on track to hit its guaranteed loan target to the agriculture sector this year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

Amid COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and lack of support in the livestock sector, which contributes more than 14 percent to the Philippines’ total farm output, it is unlikely for the agriculture sector to recover soon and achieve the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) growth target by the end of this year.

Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar admitted Monday, May 10 that the agency “can’t please everyone” even as he noted the huge challenges that the local hog industry has faced as a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the African Swine Flu (ASF) problem.

The Philippines’ agricultural production fell by 3.3 percent in the first three months of 2021, a bigger decline compared with a 1.7-percent drop during the same period last year.

Typhoon Rolly, declared as the world’s strongest tropical cyclone so far for this year, has already incurred damage and losses worth nearly P2 billion to the country’s agriculture sector, which is still reeling from the impact of Typhoon Quinta.The latest data from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRM) showed that the amount of damage and losses the farm sector obtained from Typhoon Rolly is now at P1.75 billion from the previously reported P1.17 billion.The number of affected farmers also grew to 26,948 farmers, while damaged agricultural areas are now at 26,261 hectares.