Agriculture has always been a vital part of the Philippine nation , economy and culture.

For
decades, the country has been known to be one of the best when it came to the agricultural industry
and have been thriving from it . Agriculture is considered as the backbone of the economy because it
plays a very crucial role in shaping the country’s overall economic growth and development. It remains
as one of the most economically significant and promising industries in the Philippines in terms of its
vast potential and opportunities for expansion and growth.

Agriculture is important because it is the Filipinos’ main employment and everyone are engaged
in it, even children. Most of Filipinos should be wealthy with the use of our agriculture. Hence, it is still
one of the social problems here in the Philippines. Throughout the years, we have been looking for
solutions in aiming the development of agriculture.

In recent years, however, our nation hasn’t been able to keep up with the agricultural
modernization as compared to other parts of the world— Due to Philippine Government not fully
supporting the real needs of the Agricultural Sector in our country the farmers are becoming poorest
people in the Philippine Society. The National Budget for DAR is insufficient and the rampant corruption
in our Government makes the farmers lives so pity and poorly.and its effects are showing.

According to Nations Encyclopedia, The agriculture sector of the Philippines has not received
adequate resources for the funding of critical programs or projects, such as the construction of efficient
irrigation systems. According to the World Bank, the share of irrigated crop land in the Philippines
averaged only about 19.5 percent in the mid-1990s, compared with 37.5 percent for China, 24.8 percent
for Thailand, and 30.8 percent for Vietnam. In the late 1990s, the government attempted to modernize
the agriculture sector with the Medium Term Agricultural Development Plan and the Agricultural
Fisheries Modernization Act.

Due to years of unresolved progress ,modernization, corruption, along with the implementation
of the Rice Tariffication Law (Republic Act No. 11203) which removes the regulation of imported and
domestic rice in the country, various businesses have chosen to import crops from elsewhere due to its
cheaper price. This then creates competition with many of our Filipino rice farmers, causing them to
struggle to make ends meet. With our rice farmers earning less than Php 200.00 a day, and palay
(unhusked rice) being sold at a drastically low Php 7.00/kilo from the production cost of Php 12.00, our
food providers can’t even provide for their daily living.

One of the reasons also why our local rice is priced higher in supermarkets is because of so-
called “middlemen.” Middlemen can be in the form of individuals, companies, and big corporations.
They get the produce of farmers to the market as most of our farmers do not have the capacity to do so.
This process, however, adds additional fees to the product— fees that do not go to our farmers.

We can’t talk about improving our agriculture without talking about its foundation: our farmers.
Pinoy farmers are among the most hardworking citizens in the country. In theory, becoming a farmer
should allow a comfortable lifestyle. The narratives we witness prove otherwise. In a cruel stroke of
irony, most farmers are unable to afford the food they provide. In the Philippines, farmers are landless,
poor, and neglected by the state. We can see this when we look at our rice farmers: This is perhaps best
reflected with the situation that rice farmers are in: despite rice being a staple in the lives of most
Filipinos, rice farmers continue to live in poverty and suffer through the high cost of farming inputs, low
price of palay, lack of capital, and lack of useful technology.
 Efforts have to be made to support farmers and agriculture. The dwindling population of Pinoy
farmers and working conditions leave them in a position vulnerable to further exploitation and the
problems brought by climate change. This is a huge problem. Every day, a new person comes into the
world. With every new person comes an increase in needs and demand–which are difficult to satisfy
given the condition that our farmers are in. In other words, we won’t be able to survive the coming
years without our farmers.

Farming has to become a sustainable livelihood for the agricultural workers. The first step is
directing farmers towards agribusiness in the Philippines. If you’re confused with the term, think of
agribusiness as farming following business principles. Transforming the current archaic agricultural
farming system to an agribusiness-driven sector will make way for technological and scientific
advancements that can be used on the field. This will finally allow our farmers to maximize the returns
of their hard work and have access to technology and knowledge that can help them have better
working conditions, crop yield, and income. Today there are a number of initiatives that aim to help
farmers.

Our farmers are important individuals in society–they are the “sources of life.” Without them,
we will starve. It’s only right that they get what they deserve: a stable source of adequate income and
good quality of life. Let us all stand for the right of our farmers and help them to succeed in life.