This article highlights the alarming decline of Philippine agriculture, focusing on the increasing reliance on rice imports despite past promises of self-sufficiency. It analyzes the situation across various crops like sugar, coconut, and vegetables, revealing a trend of import dependence. The author criticizes the ineffective solutions offered by policymakers and calls for drastic changes in the agricultural development strategy.
IN 1984, the government imported around 160,000 metric tons of rice. In the following years, this rose to more than 200,000 MT and reached almost 300,000 MT during the fateful year when the 'People Power' revolution broke out in 1986. Those importation levels were a major source of embarrassment for the Marcos Sr. administration, which had boasted of attaining rice self-sufficiency through its 'Green Revolution' program.
– A focus on production without substantial result and, in the process, neglecting to address the problems along the agricultural value chain.– An obsession with attaining rice self-sufficiency with little positive results, despite pouring an average of 60 percent of the Department of Agriculture's yearly budget and, expectedly, providing little support to the development of crops where the country has a comparative advantage.
AGRICULTURE IMPORTATION RICE PHILIPPINES DEVELOPMENT POLICY
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