Agriculture

Around 733 million people all ovrr the world  continue to face hunger. This was the dire warning of Director General Qu Dongyu of the Food and Agriculture Organization at the G20 Agriculture Working Group Ministerial Meeting in Chapada dos Guimaraes, Brazil as he stressed global targets remain “worryingly out of reach.” While notable progress has been made in the Latin …

The  United States Department of Agriculture raised its forecast of corn imports of the Philippines to cope with the requirement of local hog industry and other users. The forecast came after reports of an expected 2.8 percent increase in local corm production from 8.2 million metric tons (MMT) to 8.4 MMT. Likewise, wheat imports of the country next year would …

Despite  the challenges being experienced by the coconut industry, Philippine coconut products continue to top the export market, which makes it more important for a massive coconut replanting program to ensure steady supply of coconut products in the export market. And for this, President Marcos ordered the Philippine Coconut Authority to coordinate closely with the Cooperative Development Authority and consolidate …

The country’s sugar production might suffer a setback if Mt. Kanlaon’s projected eruption materializes and lahar flows from the active volcano. This as the Sugar Regulatory Administration said it is on alert due to possible lahar flows which could threaten sugar plantations near the restive Kanlaon Volcano, Business Mirror reported. The volcano, which recently spewed ash, has been under close …

By Rose de la Cruz Because of the slow rollout of vaccines against African Swine Fever, which led to the massive culling of hogs and the shrinking market of feeds of the feedmillers, the industry stakeholders are warning of possible skyrocketing pork prices this coming Christmas season, when demand normally peaks. The blame is being put on the slow clinical …

By Rose de la Cruz The actual palay production in 2023 was 20 million metric tons (MMT), considered a record compared to previous decades, but the production for 2024 would only be 20.1 MMT based on the downgraded forecast of the Department of Agriculture (from the original projection of 20.4 MMT) because of El Nino and subsequent losses from the …

By Rose de la Cruz Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has issued a  stern warning against price manipulators and cartels engaged in large scale agricultural smuggling of stiff jail terms.  On Friday, Romualdez warned agricultural cartels, vowing that those involved in price manipulation and the smuggling of essential goods — acts considered economic sabotage (which could qualify as heinous crime as …

AFRAID of losing the South Korean  market, the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association Inc. (PBGEA Inc.) is urging the Senate to ratify the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with  SoKor.  The FTA removes tariffs on bananas to boost exports and to compensate for losses caused by the Panama disease that has been dampening production. “If we are not able to …

Senator Cynthia Villar lashed out  on  the limited supplier of vaccines against the African Swine Fever (ASF), which led to the slow inoculation of hogs and  caused huge losses for the industry and skyrocketing pork retail prices. Sen. Villar, who heads the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food,  also urged President Marcos to declare a state of national calamity of …

The Philippines is one of the top 10 countries in the world that accounted for a chunk of the global aquaculture production in 2022, according to a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).  In the 2024 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (Sofia), FAO said global fisheries and aquaculture production …