Agriculture

Ako bicol Partylist Rep. Elizaldy Co certainly knew how to use his position, as chair of the House Appropriations Committee, to his utmost advantage.  Not only does he figure in the flood control mess that has shaken the country to the core, but he was also responsible for advancing his own fishing companies, by twisting the arm of the Department …

BEYOND ELLIPTICALBy Rose Marie de la Cruz The first step is to project an expected shortfall in onions, then the following day an announcement of the onions (red and yellow) to be imported come November.  This has been the pattern each year of the Department of Agriculture, which raises the question– why can’t we even produce enough so we don’t …

A command center that would manage the country’s food supply chain– ereging all commodities data from different agencies–  would soon be up and operating in November, as promised by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. As envisioned, the command center will consolidate critical data, including production, imports, stock levels, different types of the same products, movements, wholesale and retail prices, …

The  declaration by the President of a rice import ban, beginning September 1, would put heavy pressure on rice prices even with the increased local rice output. The US Department of Agriculture said the Philippines imported over 750,000 metric tons from mid-September to mid November in the last two years and that import demand during the import ban is pegged …

Aware of the huge cost in storing imported rice and buying new harvests of the local farmers, the Department of Agriculture has devised a scheme to compel accredited rice traders to hold part of the national rice reserves in their storage facilities as well as save part of their rice imports for government’s rice sufficiency program. It envisions a 50-50 …

During The 2013 destruction by typhoon Haiyan in the eastern coastal towns, most villages were left with nothing and many islanders perished from the storm surges and tsunamis. But the residents of Gen. MacArthur in Eastern Samar, a small community in the path of the super typhoon, was spared because it had preserved and treated its mangroves as wildlife treasure. …

Foundations of business conglomerates like San Miguel Corp., Meralco and SM Corp. are competing with each other in popularizing urban farming, which makes a lot of sense in growing further their businesses while satisfying their employees’ needs for accessible food supply. It is not known  which one did it first, but which one of them has embraced urban farming as …

The Philippines retained its position as second top supplier of pineapple in the world in 2024 posting a double-digit growth on the back of booming demand from key Asian markets, according to an international report. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said pineapple shipments from the Philippines expanded by 14.1 percent to around 680,000 metric tons …

Rice imports this year would surpass  four-million metric tons as output would not be sufficient to meet demand by 17 percent, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Based on  data obtained from the Department of Agriculture and other agencies, the projected import volume will address the projected supply shortfall of 2.653 MMT for the year. The Department of Economy, Planning …

BEYOND ELLIPTICALBy Rose Marie de la Cruz Here goes the Department of Agriculture (DA) again, being optimistic without taking into account current and future risks to standing crops and those to be harvested yet, in the face of storms, floods and landslides. From production to harvest, there are great risks to face. DA spokesman Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said …