A Bigger Role For Agriculture In Nat'l Economy

The agricultural sector in the country contributes around 10 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but its share of funds in the national budget in the last 10 years has been a measly 3 to 5 percent, Secretary of Agriculture William Dar said in recent virtual hearings of the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture and Food.

With this observation, he proposed a budget of P284.4 billion for 2021, a nearly 256 percent increase from the 2020 budget of P79.9 billion – P55.9 billion for the rice sub-sector, P6.6 billion for corn, P13.7 billion for high-value crops, P11.2 billion for livestock, P22.5 billion for fisheries, P960 million for organic agriculture, and P3 billion for other support programs.

That was in July, four months into the lockdowns imposed all over the country as the COVID-19 swept through the country and throughout the entire world. In the ensuing emergency, the government had to spend huge amounts to keep the economy going, including aid for poor people who had lost their livelihood and income.