MESSAGES
Isandaan at labimpitong taon na ang
nakararaan nang likhain ng pamahalaan ni
Pangulong Emilio Aguinaldo ang Kagawaran
ng Pagsasaka, upang mangalaga at
magbantay sa kapakanan ng mga magsasaka
at mangingisdang Pilipino.
Malayo na ang narating ng ating pambansang
sektor ng agrikultura sa mga nagdaang taon.
Napataas na natin ang produksyon ng ating
mga pangunahing butil. Sa katunayan, umabot
na sa 4.98 porsyento ang itinaas ng produksyon ng palay mula 20102014 na kinilala ng USDA bilang pinakamabilis na paglago sa buong
mundo. Habang umabot na 4.3 porsyento ang iniangat ng ani ng
mais sa kaparehong panahon, kaya lampas pa sa pangangailangan
natin ang inaani ngayon ng mga magsasaka ng mais.
Dahil dito, lumaki ang kita ng mga magsasaka. Base sa mga
datos, lampas 38 porsyento ang itinaas ng kita ng mga magsasaka
ng palay.
Nabago din ang buhay at kabuhayan ng mga marginalized
farmers sa tulong ng mga naipatayong small scale irrigation projects
ng pamahalaan. Dahil dito, mahigit sa 17,400 karagdagang trabaho
ang nalikha at umabot sa 32,572 farmer-families ang nakinabang.
Sa kasalukuyan, patuloy na lumilinang ang pamahalaan ng mga
proyekto na tutulong sa mga magsasaka at mangingisda sa kanilang
mga gawaing pang-agrikultura. Layunin ng mga pagsusumikap
na ito na mapalaki ang kita ng mga agricultural stakeholders, sa
pamamagitan ng pagpapataas ng kalidad at dami ng kanilang mga
ani.
Ngunit ang lahat ng ito ay hindi natin maisasakatuparan kung wala
ang tulong ng mga bumubuo sa Department of Agriculture. Mula sa
simpleng mga kawani, siyentista, inhinyero, extension workers at
technicians, at iba pa na tuwina ay nagpapamalas ng kasipagan
at karangalan sa kanilang mga trabaho nang may pagsasaalangalang sa kapakanan ng magsasaka at mangingisda, kalikasan, at ng
buong sambayanang Pilipino.
Kayo po ang dahilan kung bakit ang Philippine Agriculture ay
buhay na buhay sa makabagong panahon.
Maraming Salamat po!
Proceso J. Alcala
Secretary
Ang 117 taon ay hindi lamang basta numero
na sumisimbolo sa pagkakatatag ng ating
kagawaran. Ito ay sumasalamin sa ating
dedikasyon at pagbubuklod-buklod upang
mapabuti ang buhay at kabuhayan ng ating
mga magsasaka at mangingisda.
Sa loob ng aking pagsisilbi sa Kagawaran
ng Pagsasaka, nakita ko ang masidhing
pagnanais ng departamento upang maipatupad
ng tama ang mga ayuda ng ating pamahalaan sa ating mga boss
sa kanayunan. At dahil dito, ako ay nagagalak na mapabilang sa
ahensyang nangangalaga sa kapakanan ng mga taong tumitiyak na
may sapat na pagkain ang bawat hapag ng pamilyang Pilipino.
Kaya naman binabati ko ang lahat ng ating mga kasamahan na
walang-sawang naglalaan ng kanilang talino, galing at panahon
upang maglatag at magpatupad ng mga programa tungo sa
pangmatagalang pakinabang ng nakararami. Saludo po ako sa
inyong dedikasyon at pagsusumikap.
Gayundin, patuloy naming itinatangi ang mahalagang papel ng
mga rural workers na tuwinang nakiki-partner sa pamahalaan tungo
sa masiglang ekonomiya sa kanayunan.
Salamat sa pag-agapay sa Kagawaran para sama-sama nating
kamtin ang sapat at ligtas na pagkain para sa lahat. Hangad ko
ang patuloy nating pagsasama-sama at pagtutulungan para sa mas
maunlad na sambayanan.
Mabuhay po kayong lahat.
USEC Antonio A. Fleta
Undersecretary for Admin and Finance
The Transformation of Philippine Agriculture
Since the creation of the Department of
Agriculture and Manufacturing on June 23,
1898 under the presidency of the young General
Emilio Aguinaldo, the agency has been tasked to
oversee the national food production agenda of the
government and provide assistance and support to
the farmers across the nation.
For 117 years, DA has established programs and
policies aimed at the development of agriculture and
fishery and other related industries. It has crafted
reforms to address the needs of the farmers and
fishers, and enable them to produce and process
food items both for domestic and international
consumption.
Today, the Aquino government maintains the food
sector on top of its priority list as it sets to achieve
sufficiency and sustainability of basic foodstuff for
the benefit of all Filipinos.
STAPLE GRAINS
Thru the leadership of Secretary Proceso J.
Alcala, DA has achieved the country’s historical
best for rice and corn, and has recorded production
increase year after year. These grains, along with
other staples, are part of the advocacy of the
government under the Food Staples Sufficiency
Program.
By 2014, the Philippines was ranked as the
“World’s Fastest Rice Producer” with 4.98% annual
increase in production from 2010-2014, while white
corn increased by 4.3% from 2.17 million metric
tons (MMT) in 2010 to 2.26 MMT in 2014.
INCREASED FARMERS’ INCOME
From a P15,830/ha profit in 2010, rice farmers
secured a P21,910/ha income in 2013, which
translates to 38.4% increase over three years.
Net income per hectare from corn farming also
increased by 65.6%. From 2010 to 2013, farmers
averaged a 21.9% increase per year, mainly due
to the improvement in yield, increase in farmgate
prices and minimal increase in per unit cost.
In 2014, farmgate prices of agricultural
commodities expanded by an average of 7.74% with
the crops subsector recording a10.92% increase.
AGRI-PINOY TRADING CENTERS
To enable systematic and fair trade, the Aquino
administration has established a number of agrifishery produce depot in strategic areas across the
country. These modern trading centers will serve as
a hub for various agricultural commodities and high
value farm products.
The Agri-Pinoy Trading Centers shall provide
direct access to farmers and reduce the layers of
middlemen, thereby providing the farm producers
The rating served as a warning to the government
and fishery industry stakeholders that unless they
take a collective form of action and combat IUUF,
all RP seafoods will be banned from European
countries.
Now that the country is yellow card-free, we are
of the advantage to sell our seafood products to EU
countries, the world’s top fish consumer.
opportunities to just enterprise. As such, it is
projected to increase the income of farmers
and fishers by as much as 15-25%. In addition,
consumers are assured of safe and high quality
products at minimum costs.
The Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center is
one of the priority commitments of the present
administration. It seeks to improve the marketability
of highland veggies and aims to sustain the growth
of the vegetable industry of the Cordilleras to benefit
farmers and their families.
FARM MECHANIZATION
In an effort to lower production costs and
postharvest losses, DA has prioritized the
modernization of the farm sector by setting up
efficient processing centers and providing advanced
facilities to assist the farmers in their production and
post-production activities.
From 2011 to 2014, the government has provided
21,943 units of production machineries, 32,393
post harvest equipment and 5,770 post-production
facilities, which transformed losses into gains.
SMALL SCALE IRRIGATION PROJECTS
The last five years have been instrumental in the
improved lives of small and marginalized farmers
through the implementation of big and small ticket
irrigation projects.
Priority water initiatives of the government
targeted the marginalized uplands and fragmented
production areas. As such, small-scale irrigation
projects have improved economic activities in
the rural areas and have indirectly benefitted
community residents.
In total, small irrigation projects contributed to
the 160,000 metric ton overall production increase
in agriculture and have provided 17,488 jobs.
Historically, it has improved farm-incomes of 32,572
farmer-families.
FISHERIES
DA and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources went on full throttle in the implementation
of the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 which
seeks to address issues of overfished waters and
too many fish cages that eventually resulted to fish
kills and diminishing production.
BFAR also enforced four 3-month closed
seasons for tamban and galunggong from 2011
to 2015 to enable the species to reproduce and
increase volume of production.
Following the efforts and responsible actions
of the government thru DA-BFAR initiatives to
eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
(IUUF), the European Commission has lifted the
Yellow Card issued to the Philippines in June 2014.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO
To increase rural incomes and enhance farm
and fishery productivity in small farming and fishing
communities, the DA with the support from the World
Bank has crafted a national rural development
project, which seeks to develop market-oriented
and climate-resilient agriculture and fishery sectors.
PRDP reflects a contract-based implementation
of projects under the strong partnership of the
national and local governments. As DA’s primary
platform for reform, the six-year project uses
science-based tools for project identification and
prioritization, resulting to good governance.
Geotagging was developed under the Mindanao
Rural Development Program 2 (MRDP2) in 2011
to address limitations of project implementers to
visit and validate project sites that are remote
and conflict-stricken. This Google Earth-based
tool facilitates accurate locations of infrastructure,
livelihood and agri-fishery facilities on a map
enabling virtual monitoring and supervision of subproject implementation.
As DA pioneered the geotagging tool, other
government offices like DPWH, DENR, DAR, DTI and
NIA have adapted the same system to assure efficient
and transparent implementation of their projects.
At the onset of the present government, the
Department of Agriculture was handpicked to initiate
rural development programs that will empower
farmers and fishers and stabilize the economic
conditions in the countryside.
Aside from this, we pledged commitments in the
promotion of other agricultural policies including
organic farming and the continuous support to family
farming as a vital component in the development
of the agriculture industry and preservation of the
natural environment.
This year, the DA will host the ASEAN Ministers
on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF), to foster
cooperation and camaraderie between neighboring
countries particularly in the field of agriculture.
For five short years, the Department has
been sensitive to the needs of the farmers and
has provided necessary interventions to assure
sufficient and sustainable food supply for every
Filipino.
In the years to come, DA will continue to rise
above hardships and difficulties brought about by
changing weather patterns, market demands and
even controversies.
For now, it has been a productive 117 years.