A STUDY of international advocacy group Oxfam warned that rice yield in the Philippines will drop from 50 percent to 70 percent because of climate change. It said rice-producing countries like the Philippines will be hardest hit by climate change, as a one percent rise in temperature will result in a 10 percent drop in rice production every year from hereon.
So what is the future of Philippine agriculture? We are concerned.
It is time for the government to invest in the real economy and focus on how to improve Philippine agriculture. In previous administrations, the government’s policy made the country overly dependent on imported rice. It brought in cheap rice to augment the country’s food supply, instead of initiating programs that will actually help boost rice production and for the country to achieve the status of being rice self-sufficient. It is good that the Marcos administration declared it isn’t keen on good importations.
Farmers are understandably concerned on how the government deals with, say, a food crisis, the poor performance of the agriculture sector in the face of the global economic crisis and climate change which adversely affected the farmers. The agriculture sector experiences slower growth due to several factors, including climate change.
It is a must for the government to promote the welfare and interest of farmers and our agriculture.
Although through the years vast swaths of agricultural lands have been converted to industrial, commercial or residential use, the Philippines remains basically an agricultural country. Agriculture remains an economic driver, and thus holds the key to the country’s economic development and progress.
