Agriculture

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 …

By Rose de la Cruz Unbelievable but true. In my recent visit to a huge grocery in Quezon City, I was surprised, even shocked, to see that pork prices have risen beyond P400 per kilogram, depending on choice cuts, some even reaching past P550. Even the usual panggisa (saute) item giniling na baboy fetched beyond P380 or P400– depending on …

The unstoppable rise in commodity prices and the failure of wages to keep up with household’s needs have resulted in a “cost of living crisis” in the region, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap) in a recent blog. But then again, such cost of living crisis is not unique to the …

Joint elements of the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Customs seized 3,200 cartons of fresh oranges worth P8.422 million, which the Bureau of Plant Industry said did lacked sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) import permits to ensure the safety of consumers and the country’s agriculture sector from pest and diseases. The BoC seized at the Manila International Container Port …

A few decades ago, the Philippines was a top exporter of sugar, pineapple, rice (yes, rice), bananas, mangoes, logs, coffee. cacao, fiber and textiles and garments and even steel bars. But now, yes, we still are the leader in importing these same items from the world, esp. from our neighbors in Asia. Sad how our complete embrace of the global …

By Rose de la Cruz Several areas of the Philippines, notably Metro Manila, are sinking–  based on satellite imagery, physical evidence and other studies–  as sea levels rise because of climate change. This, according to a study done by the UP Resilience Institute, which discussed the cause of Manila’s sinking and its effects in terms of flooding and land subsidence. …

By Rose de la Cruz There’s nothing shocking/surprising about the wider agricultural trade gap in the second quarter of 2024. Because of El Nino, low water supply and confusing policies on rice and other food crops from the Department of Agriculture– with the new leadership focused more on announcing his new plans rather than implementing existing ones– production took a …