Republic of the Philippines

COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
Telefax: (064) 288-1343
Email Address: cfcstedu@gmail.com; Website: www.cfcst.edu.ph

COURSE NAME: INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURE

COURSE CREDIT: 1 UNIT

COURSE DESCRIPTION: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF CROP SCIENCE WITH

EMPHASIS ON THE BASIC AGRICULTURE THEORIES ON PRODUCTION
AGRICULTURE CROPS

TABLE OF CONTENT:

Chapter 1 - Concept of agriculture

Lesson 1- Branches of agriculture

Lesson 2 - Evolution of agriculture

Lesson 3- Importance of agriculture

Chapter 2- Historical development of agriculture

Lesson 1- Philippine agriculture

a. Origin

b. Population

c. Some facts about agriculture production in the Philippines

Chapter 3- The Plant It’s Development and Component Grouping and Classification

Lesson 1- Plant Structure and Form

Lesson 2- The Cell

Lesson 3- Anatomical Region

Lesson 4- Tissues and Tissue System

Chapter 4- The Plant body

Lesson 1- Germination and dormancy

Lesson 2- Requirement of Germination

Lesson 3- Stage of Germination

Lesson 4- Pattern of germination

CHAPTER 1
 Republic of the Philippines
COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
Telefax: (064) 288-1343
Email Address: cfcstedu@gmail.com; Website: www.cfcst.edu.ph

CONCEPT OF AGRICULTURE

A. OVERVIEW

B. DAILY LESSON OBJECTIVE (DLO)

At the end of this lesson students are expected to:

 Explain the importance of agriculture
 Evaluate the historical status of Agriculture
 Identify the branches of agriculture

C. DISCUSSION

The word agriculture has been derived from the Latin words “ager’ means Land or field and “culture” means
cultivation .So literally agriculture means the production of crops for economic purpose by cultivating the
soil .

A crop is an organism grown or harvest for obtaining yields, which has economic value. e.g. rice fish
cattle poultry ,etc. so, agriculture deals not only with the economic plants but also with the animals ,which
have economic value.

Agriculture - is an art and science of raising useful plants and livestock under the management of man.
(T.J.Rimando)

Agriculture
• The broad industry engaged in the production of crops and animals for food and fiber, the provision
for agricultural supplies and services, the processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural
products
• The development of agriculture arose from man’s realization of the difference between him and other
forms of life.

As Science
• It is a science because knowledge and skills are learned through systematic discovery of facts and
principles
As an Art
• It is an art because raising plants and animals requires skills and practice to produce beauty and
pleasant arrangements of plant and animals combination to satisfy man’s aspiration for perfection of
his environment

Three (3) stages:(Dev’t of Agriculture)

• Pastoral Stage ( hunting or collectional economy)
• Man lived on the gift of the nature, gathering wild plants for their medicinal, cosmetic, aphrodisiac
properties as well as for their food value.
• Middle Stone Stage (from 8,000 B.C)
• This is characterized by;
• Use of bow and arrow
• Catching, drying and storage of fish; and
• Stored seeds, nuts and fruits
• New Stone Age/Neolithic Age (started between 6,000-7,000 B.C.)
• Discovery of the relation of seed to plant
• Domestication of plants and animals (domestication has proved to be the single most important
intervention man has ever made in his environment)
• Villages began to grow and man made the transition from food collection to the deliberate raising of
crops.
They practice both “seed” agriculture and “vegeculture”

Seed Agriculture
Includes most of the cereals and grain legumes whose culture requires the cleaning of vast areas and
seeds are sown en masse and harvested at the same time. They consist mostly of plants with a life cycle of less
than a year or one season
Vegeculture
It refers to vegetatively propagated plants like taro, sweet potato, yam, banana, arrow root, etc.
-Is usually used to refer a subcategory of agriculture, horticulture,or food production.
 Republic of the Philippines
COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
Telefax: (064) 288-1343
Email Address: cfcstedu@gmail.com; Website: www.cfcst.edu.ph

Branches of agriculture

There are different branches of agriculture. The major branches of agriculture are as follows:

 Crop science –Deals with economic plants e. g., rice , jute, potato.

 Animal husbandry-Deals with animal production e. g. cattle , buffalo, goat, poultry.

 Veterinary –Deals with the diseases and treatment of animal.

 Fisheries- Deals with pisciculture {rearing and managing fishes.}

 Agricultural engineering –Deals with farm mechanization.

 Agricultural economics- Deals with economic management and marketing of agricultural products.

 Agro-Forestry-Deals with integrated crops and forest plants production

HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE

History of agriculture is difficult to trace due to lack of historian in the ancient era. 
Theory of evolution and the theory of creation could be used to explain the beginning of agriculture.
 
• The bible tell us the creation Adam and Eve in the “Garden of Eden”
• Evolutionist believed that when the last glacier ice melted animals and fishes died and thus primitive
man had to migrate to another places in search for food
• In the bible the melting of the ice could be considered the “deluged” as punishment of God and only
Noah and his followers were saved after 40 days of rain.

• Perhaps during hunting, he discovered by accident that certain plants, chiefly, herbaceous annuals
such as wheat, rice, barley, rye, and peas dropped near the camp site grew far from their natural
habitat and reproduced as in the wilds.
• He discovered that some plants possess seeds and these seeds could produce new plants
• Those who migrated in Europe discovered some tubers could reproduce new plants
• Those in Asia discovered seeds of wheat and rice could reproduce new plants.

• This was the beginning of crop domestication and the birth of agriculture.
• Credit for the earliest domestication which seem to have occurred in the Middle East, is generally
given to a remarkable race of people called “Cushites”.
• Cushites, who not only experimented with plant as food source, but also attempted their culture; in
effect these people may be regarded as the first agriculturist
• The first civilization flourished near the Nile River, Indus, and Tigris Euphrates as primitive men
began to settle and had division of labor.
• Evidences of the progress and civilization could be seen by the six wonders of the world such as: The
Hanging Garden of Babylon, Pyramid of Egypt, Leaning Tower of Pizza, The Taj Mahal, The
Great Wall of China and the Rice Terraces of the Philippines.

• Precisely where the first plants were cultivated is unknown

• The first production of food by crop cultivated and actual domestication dates back 7,000-10,000
years ago.

According to archeological evidence, agriculture had its origin somewhere in the well-watered
highlands of Indus, Tigris Euprhates and Nile Rivers.

• Early man realized that in vegetative diet he needed three major components:

a. Carbohydrates - for energy

b. Protein - for muscle development
c. Vitamins - to augment different types of proteins and minerals

• Two plant families achieved absolute dominance in regard to carbohydrate and protein sources
1. Graminae – carbohydrate source
2. Leguminoceae - protein source
 Republic of the Philippines
COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
Telefax: (064) 288-1343
Email Address: cfcstedu@gmail.com; Website: www.cfcst.edu.ph

Evolution of agriculture

Excavation, legends and remote sensing test reveal that agriculture is 10,000 year old. women by their
intrinsic insight first observed that plants come up from seeds. men concentrated on hunting and gathering
{Poleolithic and Neolithic periods} during that time. Women were the pioneers for cultivating useful plants
from the wild flora.

Evolution of agriculture involves the gradual changes of agriculture from the ancient era to the
civilized condition .It involves the following gradual stages.

1. Primary/ primitive/ root grabbing stage: at that stage, human being came on earth. People were
helpless and nomad and they had no houses. They were always afraid of wild animals. They used to
take shelter together in the cave, earth-hole and branch of trees to escape themselves from the wild
animals. They had no idea about food and crop production and used to live on natural fruits and
roots.
2. Hunting and old stone stage. Before the stage, people used to face wild animals during collection
of natural fruits and roots. At that stage, people had learned to save themselves from the wild
animals by throwing large sized stones to those animals. They learned to make arms by breaking
large sized stones for hunting. They used to eat flesh of wild animals. Gradually, women used to
collect fruits and roots from the near households. Thus they started to eat fruits and roots by flesh of
wild animals. Women started to wear animal skin.

3. Fire and new stone stage: at that stage, people were able to make fire and prepare improved arms.
They got the idea of making fire when they used to break the large sized stones into small pieces.
They were able to make sharp and pointed arms by rubbing one stone with another. People learned
to burn the flesh of wild animals and thus started to eat burnt flesh. Thus gradually the insecure
condition of the people was changed.
4. Animal domestication/ husbandry stage: At that stage, men became expert in hunting wild
animals. They used to hunt more than one animal and ate them as per requirement. Excess and
gentle animals were kept for future use. Thus, animal domestication was started. Less stronger
animals like cattle, goat, sheep, dog, ass etc. Were domesticated first. Woman and children used to
take care and manage feed for those animals. Thus, animal husbandry was started first. They used
to eat natural fruits and roots and did not know how to produce them. So, people used to move from
on location to another for their own food and animal feed.
5. Crop production stage: after thousand of years, people wanted to settle down in a permanent site,
as nomad life was unbearable. People observed that plants come up from maize seed kept on the
graveyard. Probably women by her intrinsic insight nurtured the sprouts to harvest near households.
Thus, women are the pioneers of agriculture. Then people started to use fire and digging land by
sticks to prepare garden plots in which they would grow small grains. They started cultivation by
pointed stick and branches of trees.

Modern agriculture was started from 18th century. Green revolution was started in 1960s.

Importance of agriculture

Agriculture is directly or indirectly contributing in many sectors of our basic needs or livelihoods
which are described under following heads.

1. Food

Food is required for normal growth and energy of the body. Agriculture is the source of the following
food elements

2. Clothes

Agriculture provides us fiber to make clothes. In the world, 70& of the fiber comes from cotton
(Gossypium spp.). other source are jute, wool, silk, natural fiber etc., which are also obtained from agriculture.

3. Houses
 Republic of the Philippines
COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
Telefax: (064) 288-1343
Email Address: cfcstedu@gmail.com; Website: www.cfcst.edu.ph

People gradually felt the necessity of making houses to escape themselves from wild animals, rain,
sunshine, cyclone etc. maximum housing materials are the products of agriculture. Such as, timber, bamboo,
straw, rope etc.

1. Industry

Agriculture provides raw materials in different industries. Some of the industries in which
agriculture supplies raw materials are mentioned below:
a. Medicine industry: maximum medicine industries utilize different medical plants like arjun,
sesame etc., which are the contributions of agriculture.
b. Paper industry: bamboo, geoa, straw etc., are used in paper industries.
c. Rubber industry: rubber is prepared from the latex of rubber plant. It used to prepare tier, tube
and room of different vehicles and also used in different industrial products.
d. Soap, candle and paint industry: different oils (mustard, sesame, linseed, groundnut) animal
fats (goat, cattle), wax of honeybee chamber, turmeric, sufflower etc. are used in this industry.
e. Perfume industry: volatile oils extracted from different plant part are used to prepare perfume.
This perfume is used directly or to prepare perfumery, medicine and food materials.
f. Beverage industry: tea, coffee, Coca-Cola, etc. are prepared from agriculture raw materials.
g. Bakery: flour, egg, sugar, oil etc. agricultural products are used in preparing different bakery
products like biscuits, cake etc.
h. Sugar industry: sugarcane, sugarbeet, date palm etc. are used to prepare sugar in the sugar
industry.
i. Narcotic and chewing industry: different agricultural products are used in narcotic and chewing
industry e.g., tobacco, cocoa, etc.
j. Leather industry: hide and skin of different animals used in leather industry.
6. fuel
fuel of brick fields (timber, jute-stick, dry leaves etc.). coal, petrol and gasses are obtained from
plant materials. Biodiesel is one of the new ideas where diesel can be obtained from plant named
jatropha.

7. Earning source

People take agriculture directly or processing of agricultural products as an occupation and thus
earn money. Agricultural products may be marketed in the local market or may be exported. Around 62%
of the rural people are directly engaged in agriculture where most of the people are related to crop
enterprises. Agriculture still employs about 40.6% of total employment of the country (BBS 2018).

8. International relation

Some agricultural products directly or in processed condition are exported and thus earned
foreign currency. Such as, rice, juice, jute, wheat, tomato, frozen fish, vegetables etc.

9. Revenue income

From the rent and taxex of agricultural land, agricultural products, government can earn revenue
income. Agriculture contributes around 14.10% of total GDP in Bangladesh where crops pants alone
contributes 7.37% (BBS 2018).

10. Natural beauty

Flower, ornamental grasses and plants bring natural beauty, which is the contribution of agriculture.
Such as, roses, jasmine etc.

11. Environmental balance

Plants liberate O2 and animals liberate CO2 to the atmosphere and thus the gaseous concentration of

the atmosphere is balanced. Agriculture helps in environmental balance by producing plants and animals.

Some Facts in Philippine Agriculture

 Philippine Archipelago .
 Republic of the Philippines
COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
Telefax: (064) 288-1343
Email Address: cfcstedu@gmail.com; Website: www.cfcst.edu.ph

 7, 641 islands
 Tropical climate with pronounced wet and dry season
 300,000 sq.km.-total land area
 or 30 million hectares

Three Main Islands

 Luzon- 141 thousand sq. km.(tsk)

 Visayas- 57 t.s.k
 Mindanao-102 t.s.k.

Regions in the Philippines

 17 administrative and autonomous local governments

 79 provinces
 1,495 municipalities
 115 cities
 About 41,956 barangays or villages
 2.3% population growth rate
 88 local dialects

Philippine Agricultural Situation

The Philippines is still primarily an agricultural country despite the plan to make it an industrialized economy
by 2000. Most citizens still live in rural areas and support themselves through agriculture. The country's
agriculture sector is made up of 4 sub-sectors: farming, fisheries, livestock, and forestry (the latter 2 sectors
are very small), which together employ 39.8 percent of the labor force and contribute 20 percent of GDP.
The country's main agricultural crops are rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane, bananas, pineapple, coffee, mangoes,
tobacco, and abaca (a banana-like plant). Secondary crops include peanut, cassava, camote (a type of
rootcrop), garlic, onion, cabbage, eggplant, calamansi (a variety of lemon), rubber, and cotton. The year 1998
was a bad year for agriculture because of adverse weather conditions. Sector output shrank by 8.3 percent, but
it posted growth the following year. Yet, hog farming and commercial fishing posted declines in their gross
revenues in 1999. The sector is burdened with low productivity for most of its crops.
The Philippines exports its agricultural products around the world, including the United States, Japan, Europe,
and ASEAN countries (members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Major export products are
coconut oil and other coconut products, fruits and vegetables, bananas, and prawns (a type of shrimp). Other
exports include the Cavendish banana, Cayenne pineapple, tuna, seaweed, and carrageenan. The value of
coconut-product exports amounted to US$989 million in 1995 but declined to US$569 million by 2000.
Imported agricultural products include unmilled wheat and meslin, oilcake and other soybean residues, malt
and malt flour, urea, flour, meals and pellets of fish, soybeans and whey.
One of the most pressing concerns of the agricultural sector is the rampant conversion of agricultural land into
golf courses, residential subdivisions, and industrial parks or resorts. In 1993 the nation was losing irrigated
rice lands at a rate of 2,300 hectares per year. Small land-holders find it more profitable to sell their land to
developers in exchange for cash, especially since they lack capital for seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and wages
for hiring workers to plant and harvest the crops. Another concern is farmers' continued reliance on chemical-
based fertilizers or pesticides that have destroyed soil productivity over time. In recent years however, farmers
have been slowly turning to organic fertilizer, or at least to a combination of chemical and organic inputs.
Environmental damage is another major concern. Coral-reef destruction, pollution of coastal and marine
resources, mangrove forest destruction, and siltation (the clogging of bodies of water with silt deposits) are
significant problems.
The agriculture sector 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.
The fisheries sector is divided into 3 sub-sectors: commercial, municipal, and aquaculture (cultivation of the
natural produce of bodies of water). In 1995, the Philippines contributed 2.2 million tons, or 2 percent of total
world catch, ranking it twelfth among the top 80 fish-producing countries. In the same year, the country also
 Republic of the Philippines
COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
Telefax: (064) 288-1343
Email Address: cfcstedu@gmail.com; Website: www.cfcst.edu.ph

earned the distinction of being the fourth biggest producer of seaweed and ninth biggest producer of world
aquaculture products.
In 1999 the fisheries sector contributed P80.4 billion at current prices, or 16 percent of gross value added in
agriculture. Total production in 1999 reached 2.7 million tons. Aquaculture contributed the most, with
949,000 tons, followed closely by commercial fishing with 948,000 tons, and municipal fisheries with 910,000
tons. Domestic demand for fish is substantial, with average yearly fish consumption at 36kg per person
compared to a 12kg figure for consumption of meat and other food products.

Some Facts in Philippine Agriculture

 Major Lowland Areas

 Philippine has a varied topography, with lofty highlands and numerous valleys
It has 4 major Lowland Plains:
1. Central Plain in Luzon
2. Cagayan Valley in Luzon
3. Agusan in Mindanao
4. Cotabato Valley in Mindanao

Land Resources are Generally Classified into:

 Forest land (15.8 million ha)

 Alienable or disposable lands (14.2 million ha)
 93% (13 million ha) are classified as agricultural land

Agricultural Land
 The Philippines is an agricultural country with a land area of 30 million hectares14.1 million ha
(47%) are devoted to agric’l land. The prime agricultural lands are located around main urban and high
population densities areas Food grains – 4.01 million ha (31%), Rice and corn-staple of the country, Food
crops-6.8 million ha (52%)Root crops, vegetable, legumes, fruits, and commercial crops (coconut, sugarcane,
coffee) Non-Food crops-2.2 million ha (17%)Abaca, tobacco, rubber, cotton, cutflowers

Farm System/Structure

 Philippine Agriculture is characterized by small, medium and large farms Majority of the farms
in the country are small farms averaging about 2 hectares. These are either owned or managed by single
families ranging from subsistence to commercial production under Phil. Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program, a farm household cannot own a farm larger than 5 hectare. A typical farming system consists of a
major crops with rice, corn, and coconut as base crops, and few heads of livestock and poultry.

Climate of the Philippines

 Based on the seasonal and rainfall distribution, the climate of the Philippines is classified as:
 Type I- two pronounced seasons with maximum rain period from June to September and dry season which
lasts from 3-6 or 7 months
 Type II-No dry season with a very pronounced maximum rain period from December to February
 Type III- No pronounced maximum rain period with short dry season lasting only from 1 to 3 months
 Type IV- Rainfall more or less eventually distributed throughout the year.

Contributions of Agricultural Sector to the Economy

 main driver of economic growth in the country --- agricultural sector contributes about 22 % to the
country's GNP
 about 50% of total labor force is involved in agricultural activities
 about 1/3 income derived comes from agriculture --- traders, processors, retailers, and other groups

Country’s Small-scale Commodity Production

 dominated by subsistence and semi- commercial farmers cultivating an average area of 1.5 ha
 comprising 2/3 two-thirds of the landowning population  landholdings of these small farmers account for
1/5 of the total farm area.

 poor rice farmers join the landless peasant population in toiling on large landholdings comprising at least
75% of the total farm area controlled by 1/5 of the landholding population.
 Republic of the Philippines
COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
Telefax: (064) 288-1343
Email Address: cfcstedu@gmail.com; Website: www.cfcst.edu.ph

Agriculture and Poverty

In the year 2000, rural poverty worsened by 1.5% to 41.4% (from 39.9% in 1997) rate of malnutrition
among children aged 6 to 10 years old is at 40.4%annual poverty threshold (for food and non-food needs) had
increased by 18% from 1997 (P9, 834) to 2000 (P11, 605) --- translated to 4.3 million families or 26.5 million
Filipinos who remain poor

Poverty Incidence: Rural (68%) > Urban Areas (34%)

 corn farmers --- 41%
 rice and corn workers --- 36%
 sugarcane farm workers, coconut farm workers, forestry workers --- 33%
 fishers in the coastal waters --- 31%
Why Filipinos are Poor?
 severe inequality of income and assets - worsened by the inequality of access to education, health care and
other social services such as safe drinking water, electricity and farm to market roads the wealthiest fifth of
our people are 10x richer than the poorest fifth rural people are the poorest because the urban poor have better
access to social services.

Constraints to Increasing Yield

 Biophysical/Technical
  Pests and diseases
  Yield potential of varieties/cultivars --- limiting
  Technological efficiency at farm level --- low
  Declining soil fertility and degraded soils (uplands)
  Water shortage --- lack of / deteriorating irrigation facilities, El Niño
  Socioeconomic
  Limited / unavailable capital
  Low production incentives
  Institutional
  Deteriorating extension support services
  Weak institutional capabilities

Philippine Agricultural Development Program

Liberalization of International Trade - Agriculture Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), implemented under the
auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Philippine membership at the World Trade Organization
(WTO) ---enactment of the AFMA – an attempt to modernize Philippine agriculture.

Focus of AFMA
F -food security
P - poverty alleviation and social equity
I - income enhancement and profitability
G - global competitiveness
S - sustainability

Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Program

 rice -use of hybrid rice
 corn -use of hybrid and inbred corns
 high value crops -intensive vegetable and fruit production

Philippine Commitment towards the Liberalization of Agricultural Trade

 1996 - Philippine Senate ratified country's membership in World Trade Organization (WTO) Philippine
agriculture being export- oriented, import-dependent and dominated by foreign interests such membership
intensified the basic weakness already inherent in Philippine agriculture.

Philippines as Member of WTO is Committed to:

1. Increased market access through the conversion of all quantitative restrictions (QR) into tariffs which
will be eventually phased down. AoA/WTO stipulates that tariff reduction will be by 24% over the next
10 years for developing countries and by 36% over the next 6 years for developed countries . Philippines
have to pass The Agricultural Tariffication Act (Republic Act 8178) that repealed or amended existing
laws imposing QRs --- that were designed to 'protect and hasten' the in- country production of the
commodity, such as:
 RA 7607 for corn, hogs, meat and meat products
 RA 1296 for onion, cabbages and potatoes
 RA 2712 for coffee
 Republic of the Philippines
COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
Telefax: (064) 288-1343
Email Address: cfcstedu@gmail.com; Website: www.cfcst.edu.ph

 RA 1297 and 1593 for beef and beef products

 RA 7308 for seeds

 The Act also repealed the Magna Carta for Small farmers (RA 7607) --- that prohibits the importation of
agricultural products that are produced in sufficient quantities

2. Withdrawal of domestic production support by 0% over 6 years for developed countries and by 13% over
10 years for developing countries
 As part of liberalization --- government support/subsidies were pegged at minimal levels  e.g., irrigation
programs were down scaled to only 15% of farmlands irrigated NIA
 Philippines eventually ended with zero-level subsidies except for rice that was provided through NFA.

3. Reduction of budgetary outlays for export subsidies by 36% over six years for developed countries and by
24% over ten years for developing countries, and the reduction of the quantity of exports covered by export
subsidy by 21% for developed countries and by 14% for developing countries Philippine government did not
have to reduce export subsidies there is never any export subsidy provided to the farmers bound future
government not to implement any agricultural subsidies that could boost the country’s agricultural sector.

4. Harmonization of sanitary and phytosanitary measures based on internationally accepted and scientifically
justifiable standards restriction of entry of certain agricultural products in some countries e.g., aflatoxin test
requirement for Philippine coconut products to the US and vapor heat treatment of Philippine mangoes against
fruit fly for mangoes entering Japan.
 A set of other laws and policies effectively opens up the Philippines to exploitation by citizens of other
member states of tee WTO:
 RA 7900 providing incentives, tax holidays and infrastructure support for agribusiness corporations
engaged in export crop production
 RA 7562 or Investment Lease Act allowing foreigners to lease agricultural land for 50 years, renewable for
another 25 years.
 EO 470 or the Import Liberalization Program
 EO 264 or the Reduction in tariff on agricultural imports.
 Overall result of the AoA  paved the way for the dumping of cheap subsidized goods that directly
compete with high-production-cost local agricultural and food products.

Philippine Performance due to Globalization and Liberalization of Agricultural Trade

In the last ten years since the country joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Philippine
agricultural trade performance continues to weaken as trade deficit increased from year to year.
 Local market became flooded with cheap agricultural imports while the country’s exports were not able to
penetrate rich countries’ markets
 As of 2004, accumulated trade deficits have already reached a very high value of 9 B USD.


Agricultural liberalization caused significant decline in the agricultural sector’s productivity (GDP).
 1990 --- 22%
 2000 --- 18.5%
 2004 --- 17.4%
 One of the worst hit by liberalization of agricultural trade is the vegetable industry imported vegetables
have flooded local markets from 42,000 metric tons (MT) in 1995 to 115,000 MT by 2000
 Overall number of jobs created in agriculture has fallen from 128,000 in 1996 to 44,000 in 2004

Philippine Agriculture SWOT

 Strength of Philippine Agriculture provides a total output (GDP) of about 22% -positive.
 Provides direct and indirect employment to about 12.5 M families -5.1 M are into farmingFood security
remains to be lifeline of the country- priority attention of the government
 Agriculture - mother of many industries (raw material - processing -local/export markets)
 Land asset still valuable possession for future’s security
 Farming remains to be noble human undertaking and profession

Weaknesses of Philippine Agriculture

Low adoption rates of component technologies/whole systems -technological deficiencies/weak

extension/etc.
 Republic of the Philippines
COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
Telefax: (064) 288-1343
Email Address: cfcstedu@gmail.com; Website: www.cfcst.edu.ph

 Heavy dependence on imported inputs

 Multiple problems
 Physical
 climate (rainfall, To, sunshine duration)
 soil fertility (top soil erosion, etc.)
 Biological
 pests, diseases, weeds
 physiological disorders (intensively cropped areas -nutrient deficiency
 Socioeconomic
 low farm income
 inadequate support services (farm)
 inadequate incentives for agricultural production (input prices/prices of product)

Essentially mono-culture-based design of dominant crops - key production areas

Export raw materials - imports finished products (under developed processing segment)Presence of
“middlemen” in the farm – consumer continuum Others

Opportunities for Philippine Agriculture

Diverse agro environment - diverse cropping/farming system Wide variety of climate and soil that allows
production of a wide variety of crops
  Food staple crops
  Fruit orchard
  Aesthetics/ornamental
  Agri - aquaculture system

D. Assessment Task:
Answer the following question, expound your answer.

1. In your own views, what is Agriculture?

2. What is the impact of agriculture in our daily lives?

3. What are the Roles of a Farmer in agriculture?

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COTABATO FOUNDATION COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato
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4. How Agriculture affects in our economy?