The “New Thinking” for

Philippine Agriculture
by Dr. William D. Dar
 The DA Secretary
 Acting Secretary
Department of Agriculture, July 1998 - May 1999

 Executive Director
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India,
2000 - 2014

 President, Inang Lupa Movement Inc. - present

 Presidential Advisor on Food Security - 1999
 Executive Director
National Agricultural and Fishery Council – 1998

 The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Awardee, 2016

 Eight Doctoral Degrees

 Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of the Phils, 1988

 Outstanding MS Swaminathan Leadership Award in India, 2014
 Pamana ng Pilipino Awardee, 2014
William D. Dar, Ph. D.
 The DA’s Twin Goals

“Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita”

 The DA’s Vision

“A food-secure Philippines
with prosperous farmers
and fisherfolk.”
 The DA’s Mission

“To collectively empower farmers

and fisherfolk and the private sector
to increase agricultural productivity
and profitability, taking into account
sustainability and resilience.”
8 Paradigms to Level Up Agriculture
 Modernization must continue 1
 Proper implementation and judicious use of the ₱10B per year
RCEP funds.

 Diversify crop production to include those with export potential

in processed or value-added form.

 Attracting the youth into farming.

 Agripreneurship; treat farming and fishing as business

undertakings.
 Industrialization of agriculture is key 2
 Value-adding, processing, manufacturing and developing markets for both raw and processed
agricultural products.

 More active leadership into the agencies involved with the agriculture sector.

 Establish links between large agri-industrial firms and conglomerates and farmers’
associations/cooperatives with the support of state colleges and universities; other joint venture
agreements can be pursued.

 Digitization of farming and agribusiness activities like data analytics, artificial intelligence, geo-
mapping, computerization, use of drones and the internet.

 More investments on income- and market-oriented agricultural researches for development.

 Formation of Community Agriculture Management Companies/Corporations (CAMCs) to institute a

profit-based model in the villages or municipalities .
 Promotion of exports is a necessity 3
 Economies of scale in on-farm production for sustainable
quantity and quality of export products

 Involvement of the private sector; government must provide a

nurturing environment including policy support to encourage the
sector to level up

 Diversify crop production

 CAMCs can take the lead to organize farmers and fisherfolk so

they can enter the value-chain for export market
Consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms 4
 Promote and support land consolidation arrangements to bring about
economies of scale for crops that require mechanization and massive use of
technology.

 Schemes include block farming, contract farming and corporative farming

for more efficient technology and reduction of production cost.

 Deal
or transact with organized farmers for collective action and link more
farmers to the agri-industrial sector.

 Requireparticipating farmers to co-produce in groups of contiguous farms

with synchronized farm activities and attend regular meetings and learning
sessions in farm technology, financial literacy and marketing.
Infrastructure development should also be critical 5
 “Build, Build, Build” program is also a must in agriculture.

 Engage the private sector in a “build and transfer” scheme to

accelerate development of national irrigation systems; irrigation
development should also cover high-value commercial crops.

 Massiveinvestment for rainwater harvesting not only for economic

purposes but also for flood mitigation; more SPIS should be built.

 Food terminal markets including post-harvest handling, packaging

and related facilities and farm-to-market roads should be constructed
in the rural areas.
 Higher budget and investment for Philippine
agriculture 6
 Increased budget will help unlock the bigger potential
contributions of agriculture to the economy, including
employment opportunities .

 New ideas, new programs and projects are needed to innovate

Philippine agriculture.

 Budgets for programs and projects can also be legislated, such in

the case of RCEP as stipulated in RA 11203 or the Rice
Tariffication Law.
 Legislative support is needed 7
 Policy and structural reforms must be legislated and
institutionalized thru the help of both the Senate and the House of
Representatives.

 The President can also certify urgent legislative measures for

agricultural and rural development.

 More pro-poor laws are needed, like the Sagip Saka Act or RA 11321.

 With the tariff collection coming in, the budget should be

programmed into the new Philippine roadmap.
 Roadmap development is paramount 8
 The roadmap should have all the paradigms and present the vision for Philippine
agriculture, which should result, as a minimum:

Inclusive Development in Farming and Fishing Villages

 The roadmap should be guided by the following goals:

Increased productivity, profitability competitiveness,

sustainability and resilience.

 The formulation of the roadmap should involve smallholder farmer/fisherfolk, lGUs,

SUCs, CSOs and the private sector.

 The roadmap should have a value-chain approach to level up Philippine agriculture.

 Priority Concerns for the First 100 Days

Ensure the proper and efficient utilization of the Rice Tariffication Law, particularly
the management of the ₱10-B Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF)
including that of the formulation of the Rice Industry Roadmap.
1

Craft and implement a “Crop Diversification Strategy” with corresponding fund

requirements, initially using current DA program budget, and thereafter included
under the 2020 and 2021-2022 annual budgets.
2

Craft and implement a “Pantawid Magsasaka Program” that will provide continuous
assistance to adversely affected rice farmers due to the rice tariffication regime.

3
 Priority Concerns for the First 100 Days

Enhance skills of small farmers’ and fisherfolk’s cooperatives, IAs, and ARBAs on
entrepreneurship and financial management. DA should forge MOA with major
agribusiness companies to provide business managers.
4

Strongly implement climate change and disaster risk reduction program

institutionalizing early warning systems and protocols.

Assist BARRM in implementing its agriculture, fishery and agri-entrepreneuship

development program.

6
 Priority Concerns for the First 100 Days
Introduce “New Thinking” as the revised DA vision and mission; strive to attain a
“food-secure” Philippines with prosperous farmers and fisherfolk; identify and
promote “countryside heroes”; establish and strengthen farmers’ and fisherfolks’
registry as basis for granting social benefits.
7

Sustain massive information and communication campaign, highlighting countryside

heroes.

Review and re-orient existing DA programs and projects towards increasing

productivity, competitiveness and income.

9
 Priority Concerns for the First 100 Days

Reshape and reprogram budget of DA for 2020.

10

Enhance partnership with the private sector particularly in forging contract-growing

and marketing agreements and training of SFFCs, IAs, ARBAs on agribusiness,
entrepreneurship, financial and marketing.
11

Strengthen the organizational structure of DA including systems and processes for

efficient and effective governance.

12
 Priority Concerns for the First 100 Days

Conduct “Food Summit” with key stakeholders: farmers, fisherfolk, GOs, NGOs, LGUs,
private sector, SUCs and others.

13

Coordinate/collaborate with DTI regarding price stabilization and complementation

of agricultural products as well as strengthening quarantine measures against poultry
and livestock diseases.
14

Review restrictive and constrictive policies on agriculture, fishery, agribusiness,

credit, and others.

15
 Secretary Dar’s Marching Orders
(Excerpts during the first Management Committee Meeting last August 23, 2019)

 Align all programs/projects/activities to the “New Thinking”.

 Encourage active private sector participation.
 Create Regional Task Force on Rice and Swine.
 Upgrade measures on quarantine and food safety.
 Systems-wide integration approach for RCEP implementation.
 Explore other modalities in PPHF distribution (consider corporation
approach – PO+LGU+Private Sector).
 NFA to buy palay from legit POs/FAs and not from traders.

 LGUs to allocate funds in the procurement of local produce

 Update RSBSA for endorsement to LBP to roll-out loan programs.
Marching Orders …..
 Mobilize Teams to monitor palay prices , arrival of imports at NFA, number of
issued import clearance from BOC and BPI , and identify necessary measures per
region.
 Bring top 20 Governors /Traders and Millers in malacannag in mid September
2019
 Encourage Provincial Governors to buy palay for their constituents. Similar
scheme employed by Governors of Isabela and Nueva Ecija.
 Collect and maintain good data ( starting August) on harvest every two weeks
which will serve as basis for NFA to procure. Submit to ASEC Villacorta and
USEC Cayanan.
 Talk to Provincial Governors and translate the directives into actions.