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Philippine agriculture, with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. directly taking primary responsibility, is expected to get a boost from the United States following the launching of a trade mission launched in the country.

The Philippines is expected to face shortfall in the supply of sugar in the coming market year (MY) despite the government’s decision to suspend the export of the sweetener to the United States and other markets globally.

The Philippines’s food service sector is expected to shrink further this year to $7.4 billion following a 44 percent fall in 2020, on the weight of the spread of COVID-19’s Delta variant as well as the government’s abrupt implementation of different quarantine restrictions.

The Philippines’ inventory of frozen pork is at historic high amid the continuous entry of imported pork while local pork output remained flat.

The Philippines is seen importing more chicken meat until end this year despite declining demand, data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed.

Philippines’ pork imports for this year are still seen to go higher at 425,000 metric tons (MT), even despite the already 401 percent surge in pork imports the country recorded from January to April of this year.

After observing positive rice output over the last few months, the Philippines is poised to exceed targets in terms of the production of its main staple this year and next year amid the government’s push to boost the planting of hybrid rice.

 The government’s failure to stop smuggled pork imports has put the country at more risk of contracting new variants of African Swine Fever (ASF) that began to cause further damage in China, the world’s largest pork-producing country.           

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.