Despite a slight slowdown in the country’s agricultural performance last quarter, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is eyeing a progressive annual growth rate of two, three and four percent for this year until 2022.
“It will be a tall order, mainly due to natural and man-made calamities that will impact on the production of rice, corn, vegetables, major crops, swine, poultry and fishery products, but we are confident we could attain such modest growth rates in the next three years,” William Dar, DA secretary, said.
That would be the fastest growth rate since 2017 when farm output expanded by 3.95 percent.
It is also a big leap from the 0.7 percent growth in 2019.
The DA’s strategies will be anchored on science and statistical analysis to map out the progress of the implementation of programs and find other sources of growth, Dar added.
He also noted the urgent need for a systematic plan in the export of high-value crops as only bananas and pineapples are performing well in the market.
“We must vigorously support and pursue the production and export of agricultural and fishery commodities that we have a comparative advantage in and strengthen strategic partnerships with major and emerging trading partners and, more importantly, intensify the marketing and promotions of our farm and fishery products worldwide,” the DA chief said.
Dar added that better weather prediction strategies for typhoons, El Niño and La Niña should be strengthened and enhanced to municipal, provincial and regional levels, as the erratic growth of the agriculture sector is “highly dependent on the vicissitudes of weather.”
“Under my leadership, we will ensure the installation of resilience-enhancing measures through the use of satellite technology to track weather and climate changes, strengthening our information and education dissemination capability, and the establishment of provincial-led agricultural and fishery extension system,” he said.
