Philippines urged to focus on other crops

Hanoi, Vietnam – The Philippines should focus its resources on other high-value crops that have a greater potential to compete in the region, an agriculture expert said.

The Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), a unit of the International Rice Research Institute, said the country should further develop other existing crops aside from rice, which may not be its strength now.

“It’s difficult when we keep on looking at other countries. We should build on our strengths, like in coconut, sugarcane and cacao. We already have those, but we tend to neglect these crops,” CCAFS Southeast Asia regional program leader Leocadio Sebastian told The STAR.

“Why don’t we build our competitiveness on what we have. We may be losing from other countries in terms of rice, but we will always find a niche. The problem is we keep on looking at what they are good at,” he added.

While the Philippines is close to meeting its target of  100 percent rice self-sufficiency, it remains way behind other ASEAN countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia which have long been exporting the main staple.

“All these rice exporting countries have really huge lands and good irrigation system. The problem with us is we have scattered place. That’s why our approach should be similar to Malaysia, where they diversify other products because they know that they cannot compete in terms of rice,” Sebastian said.

Sebastian urged the country to take inspiration on how Vietnamese farmers view agriculture, which is not just a job to produce for the whole population.

“The farmers here consider agriculture as a serious business. In the Philippines, the government keeps on pushing farmers to produce more rice, but the farmers are not actually seeing the benefits and incentives that should translate to better income for them,” Sebastian said.

He emphasized the need for improving the efficiency of technologies, building the market, and strengthening product quality.

“The government here in Vietnam invests a lot in supporting the produce first then linking them to the market,” Sebastian said.

“We are so good and full of ideas in the Philippines. But the problem is convincing other people and the lack of execution. No wonder other countries fish our ideas and implement them in their own country and become successful,” he added.