i n dustry v iew s

PH collaborates with USDA for Food benefit Philippine agriculture and industry,
for Progress Program but will also capacitate and strengthen the
Summarized by Mr. Vincent Thomas G. Davo country’s health system. (Source: Manila
Research Assistant, CFA-UA&P
Bulletin)

T o strengthen food security and ensure

affordable and nutritious food sources,
the Unite States Department of Agriculture
Average rice
8-year low
farmgate prices drop to

Summarized by Ms. Joy Kristel L. Orzales

(USDA), in partnership with the Department Agribusiness Specialist, CFA-UA&P
of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Health
(DOH), inaugurated the Food for Progress in
T he average farmgate prices of assorted

Photo credits: shutterstock, 123rf, freepik

the Philippines.
The project focuses on alleviating the
sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) systems
that would enhance domestic livelihood
while opening more doors for US-PH trade
relations. Through the Winrock International,
a non-profit organization chosen by the USDA
to facilitate the $8.5 million budget, the Food
for Progress will undertake activities geared
towards the development of Philippine SPS
systems. This will venture on using risk-based
and internationally-accredited standards that
are expected to yield effective and efficient
outcomes.
The Food for Progress is a USDA program
for developing countries allotted for the
expansion of the agricultural and trade sector.
Once implemented, the program will not only
varieties of palay dropped to an eight-year
low in September at PhP16 per kilo, according
to the Philippine Statistics Authority. The price
fell by 30.1 percent from PhP22.84 same
period last year.
According to the Executive Director of
University of Asia and the Pacific Center for
Food and Agri Business Dr. Rolando Dy, the
decline was due to the influx of cheap rice
imports to the country. The steep fall also shortage of Christmas hams in the provinces,
prompted the Department of Agriculture according to the Philippine Association of Meat
to initiate a preliminary investigation if the Processors, Inc. (PAMPI). This can also lead
imposition of safeguard duties is needed. to losses of up to Php40 billion for the local
A task force was formed through the meat industry and after provinces imposed
Special Order 862 Series of 2019 to “facilitate restrictions on the transportation of Luzon-
assistance relative to the drop of palay based pork processed meat products.
farmgate price.” It is tasked to “develop, adopt The PAMPI also noted on their statement
and promulgate measure to promote rice that while there are meat processors in Cebu
productivity and farmers’ viability, and ensure and Cagayan de Oro, this will not be enough

FOOD FACTS the effective and efficient implementation

of rice-related measures in relation to the
drop of palay farmgate price.” The group is
composed of experts and economists from
the academe, private sector, rice farmers,
millers, cooperatives and various government
agencies related to rice. (Source: Business
Mirror)
Christmas ham shortage due to ASF -
PAMPI
Summarized by the Center for Food and Agri Business
to supply the demand of the regions. The
association of meat processors is asking for
local governments to base their ban and
restrictions on science-based and expert
advice of internally recognized Animal Health
Organizations.
The World Organization for Animal Health
has already declared that the disease only
affects swine and is not transferrable to man
and other animals. The members of PAMPI
has appealed for the lifting of ban through the
Department of Interior and Local Government
that will be coursed through the Department of

T he ban on the transportation of meat Agriculture. (Source: Manila Bulletin)

to Visayas and Mindanao can lead to a

Food and Agri Business Monitor | 1

 f eature

Tomato: An Industry Brief

BY Ms. Ditas R. Macabasco
Senior Agribusiness Specialist, Center for Food and Agri Business

T omato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most popular fruit vegetables in the
country. It is botanically classified as a fruit but is considered as a vegetable considering
its uses.
It can be consumed raw or used for sautés, Many varieties are available in the market. planted to tomato is only about 0.52 ha,
garnishing, ingredient in many dishes, as well The most commonly planted is Diamante based on data from the Philippine Statistics
as salads. Tomato can also be processed Max and Ilocos Red. Other varieties include Authority (PSA).
into various products such as canned, dried, Apollo, Athena, Atlas F1 (off-season variety),
juice, ketchup, paste and sauce. The latter Avatar TY, Cherry, Escudero F1, Fantastic PRODUCTION, AREA AND YIELD
three are extensively used in the food service F1 (for fresh or processing), Floradade,
and food processing sectors (e.g. sardines Harabas, Improved Pope, King Kong No. 2., Global production reached 182.3 million tons
manufacturing). Maharlika, Magilas, Mountain Fresh Plus F1, over an area of more than one million ha
Tomato is an annual crop that can be and Semenes. Most of the varieties are for in 2017, based on data from the Food and
grown all throughout the year. The planting table use or for the fresh market, a few are Agriculture Organization. Yield averaged 37.6
season is usually from September to January suitable for processing (e.g., Fantastic F1) and tons per ha during the year.
for hilly areas and from November to February still others for salad use (e.g., Cherry). The biggest producer is China accounting
for lowland areas. Off-season production Tomato is commonly cultivated in small for one-third of total output, followed by India
is around May to September. The crop can plots. While the average farm size of a tomato (11 percent), Turkey (seven percent), the USA
usually be harvested within four months. farmer is about 1.15 hectares (ha), the area (six percent) and Egypt (four percent).

2 | Food and Agri Business Monitor

 f eat ure

Figure 1. Tomato: Production and Area Harvested, 2014-2018 processing and seven percent to feeds and
waste. A very minimal amount is used for
seeds.
The average per capita consumption was
1.63 kg during the year. Consumption posted
a slight decline from 1.65 kg/capita in 2012.
(Figure 3)

PRICES

While the crop is available all-year round,

prices vary from month to month. Over the
past five years, prices were generally low
during the months of February to April, with
peaks around October to December.
The average farmgate price stood at
P18.64 in 2018. Prices were up by 10 percent
per annum from only P12.81/kilo in 2014.
(Fugre 4)

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) TRADE

The country is mainly an importer of tomato

The Philippines is a very minor player products such as paste, ketchup and other
KEY PRODUCTION AREAS
in the global market. Production reached tomato sauces, prepared/preserved (whole or
only 220,800 tons in 2018 from an area of in pieces), and juice. Exports are minimal,
By region, production is led by Ilocos with a
nearly 16,500 ha. Production was up by 0.7 mainly ketchup and other tomato sauces.
third of the total volume in 2018. The next
percent per annum while area declined by 0.4 (Table 1)
biggest is Northern Mindanao with 22 percent,
percent per annum during the past five years. Imports. The bulk of imports are tomato
followed by Central Luzon with 13 percent.
Production generally increased minimally over paste. Paste imports fluctuated during the last
By province, the biggest is Bukidnon with
the past five years, with average growth of 0.7 five years, with average growth of 0.4 percent
share of 18 percent to total output during the
percent per annum. per annum on volume and -2.5 percent per
same year. Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur ranked
Yield averaged 13.4 tons/ha in 2018, up annum on value. In 2018, imports amounted
second and third with shares of 12 percent and
by 1.1 percent per annum from 12.8 tons/ha to nearly 26,300 tons valued at US$22.1M.
11 percent, respectively. (Figure 2)
in 2014. Low productivity may be attributed The main suppliers are China (80 percent of
to the poor cultural management practices, volume) and the USA (19 percent).
SUPPLY UTILIZATION
pest and disease incidence, and unfavorable For ketchup and other tomato sauces,
weather conditions. (Figure 1) imports generally decreased over the past
In terms of utilization, some 78 percent of
total supply goes to food use, 15 percent to five years. Import volume declined by 4.3

Figure 2. Tomato: Leading producers by region and province, 2018

Regional Provincial

Source of basic data: PSA

Food and Agri Business Monitor | 3

 f eature

percent per annum while value posted a
slight improvement of 0.3 percent per annum
during the period. In 2018, imports reached
over 4,500 tons worth US$5.4M. The leading
sources are the USA (61 percent of volume),
followed by India (14 percent), Italy (nine
percent), China (six percent) and Indonesia
(five percent).
In terms of prepared/preserved tomatoes
(whole or in pieces), imports grew by 12.7
percent per annum on volume and 10.4
percent per annum on value during the last five
years. In 2018, imports were nearly at 4,000
tons with value of over US$2.7M. Imports
came largely from Italy (93 percent of volume),
and small amounts from Spain and the USA
(three percent each).
For tomato juice, imports are minimal and
on a downtrend. During the last five years,
imports dropped by 20.1 percent per annum
on volume and 19.5 percent per annum on
value. Imports stood at only 172 tons worth
US$110,000 in 2018. The top origins are
Germany (64 percent of volume), distantly
followed by Austria and the USA (16 percent
each).
Exports. Comprising ketchup and other
tomato sauces, exports were minimal but
generally grew over the past five years.
Volume rose by 10.7 percent per year and
value by 35.1 percent per year during the
period. In 2018, exports totaled 621 tons
valued at US$727,000. The leading markets
are the USA (32 percent of volume), the United
Arab Emirates (19 percent), Singapore (14
percent), Saudi Arabia (eight percent) and
Australia (seven percent).
CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS
The tomato industry has not really grown
much during the last five years. Production
practically stagnated while yield levels
remained low.
The industry is beset with various issues
and concerns across its whole supply chain.
As an example, on the production and
marketing side, late last year, farmers in Brgy.
San Antonio, Kalayaan, Laguna suffered from
severe oversupply, with no traders willing to
buy their produce. Unfortunately, the produce
is also not suitable for processing. Thus, the
farmers had to dispose of more than ten tons
of rotting tomatoes. (Table 2)
Despite the issues, tomato remains
profitable. Based on data from PSA, a farmer
can earn a net income of over P40,000 per
ha. The average cost of production is around
P207,000 per ha. At a farmgate price of
P18.64/kg and average yield of 13,388 kg/ha,
the gross income is close to P250,000 per ha.
There is, however, need to strengthen
government support and private sector
initiatives to boost industry performance.
Among other things, focus could be in terms
of organizing the farmers, improving cultural
management practices, improving post-
harvest handling and storage, promoting
value-adding, diversifying production,
developing market linkages, and improving
road conditions.

Table 1. Imports of tomato products, 2014-2018

(Quantity in tons, import value in US$ ‘000)
Year Tomato paste Ketchup and other Prepared/Preserved (whole Tomato juice
tomato sauces or in pieces) TOTAL VALUE
Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value
2014 27,506 28,564 5,656 5,560 2,669 1,899 464 342 36,365
2015 34,036 39,824 4,487 4,643 3,672 2,264 426 329 47,060
2016 31,954 26,844 5,275 5,641 4,135 2,394 244 219 35,098
2017 34,429 27,827 5,114 5,319 4,963 2,983 171 95 36,224
2018 26,272 22,092 4,543 5,429 3,996 2,743 172 110 30,374
Source: PSA

Figure 3. Supply utilization, 2017 Figure 4. Average farmgate prices, 2014-2019*

Annual Monthly

Note: Minimal amounts go to seeds

Source: PSA as of June 2019
Source: PSA

4 | Food and Agri Business Monitor


Table 2. Tomato industry: Key issues and concerns and proposed actions
Supply chain segment Key issues and concerns
Input supply • High costs – seeds, fertilizers
and chemicals
• Lack of capital
Production • Occurrence of pests and
diseases (e.g. bacterial wilt,
tomato yellow leaf curl virus
(TYLCV) – locally known as
kulot, and early blight)
• High cost of production
• Low yield
• Bad weather conditions/
Calamities
Post-harvest • High post-harvest losses
Processing • Limited value adding (most
processed products e.g.
paste, juice are imported)
Market • Unstable prices (e.g. very
low prices especially during
the peak season)
• Lack of alternative markets
(aside from traditional
traders)
• Lack/Limited market
information
Logistics • Poor farm to market roads
• High transport costs
Proposed action
• Organize farmers for consolidated
buying of inputs (organized farmers
have better bargaining power)
• Improve cultural management
practices
• Enhance access to credit
• Use resistant varieties
• Adopt good agricultural practices
• Diversify into other crops to
minimize risks
• Improve cultural management
practices
• Use good quality seeds/ high-
yielding varieties
• Improve post-harvest handling
and storage (use of appropriate
packaging materials; proper
handling and storage)
• Promote value adding
• Encourage plantings of varieties
suitable for processing
• Production programming
• Diversify production to spread
risks
• Develop market linkages
• Ensure that production matches
market requirements (in terms of
quantity and especially quality)
• Provide timely and adequate
market information
• Seek government support to
improve road conditions
• Consolidate production to lower
per unit transport cost
f e at ure
MANAGING EDITOR
Joy Kristel L. Orzales
PRODUCTION AND MARKETING
Vincent Thomas G. Davo
Natacia Ann I. Esguerra
EDITORIAL BOARD
Rolando T. Dy
Senen U. Reyes
Florence M. Sevilla
Ditas R. Macabasco
Marie Annette G. Dacul
Rosalie B. Miranda
The Food and Agri Business Monitor (FAM) is a bi-
monthly publication of the Center for Food and Agri
Business of the University of Asia and the Pacific,
Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center, 1605 Pasig City, Metro
Manila, Philippines.
Telephone: (632) 637-0912 to 26 local 345
Telefax: (632) 633-8349
Email: cfa@uap.asia Website: http://cfa.uap.asia
FAM reports on food and agribusiness developments
in the country and around the world as collected from
various domestic and foreign publications.
The comments and views expressed in this magazine
are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not
represent any position held by UA&P. The contents
may not be distributed in full or part without prior
written authorization.
Food and Agri Business Monitor | 5