Explore The Vast

Agriculture

The Philippine agribusiness sector is roughly composed of five (5) sub-sectors: farming, animal production (includes livestock and poultry), forestry and logging, fishery (including aquaculture) and agri-support services, and manufacturing. Its output sustains the local demand and is considered to be essential commodities within the country. Commercial crops assist both the agricultural export industry as well as the domestic demand and consumption.

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PHP1.79 Trillion revenue generated

The agriculture industry generates an estimated 1.79 trillion Philippine pesos.

Source: PSA

Comprises 10% of country’s GDP

The industry contributes 10% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Source: Statista

2nd largest pork producer

The Philippines is the 2nd largest pork producer in Southeast Asia.

Source: DA

The Philippines is primarily an agricultural country with a large portion of Filipinos living in rural areas and supporting themselves through agricultural activities. Recent figures suggest that about a quarter of employed Filipinos work in the agriculture industry. [154]

The agro-processing industry in the Philippines has proven to be one of the more reliable sources of growth for the domestic economy. Agribusiness refers to agriculture-related activities that put farmers, processors, distributors, and consumers within a system that produces, processes, transports, markets, and distributes agricultural products. [155]

The Philippine agribusiness sector is roughly composed of five (5) sub-sectors: farming, animal production (includes livestock and poultry), forestry and logging, fishery (including aquaculture) and agri-support services, and manufacturing. [156] Its output sustains the local demand and is considered to be essential commodities within the country. Commercial crops assist both the agricultural export industry as well as the domestic demand and consumption.

The vision of the Philippine government for the agriculture industry is to be a food-secure and resilient country that aims to help farmers and fisherfolk prosper and providing better support to improve the country’s food production and supply even during times of crisis. [157] The Philippine government aims to improve the lives of farmers and the country’s economy by modernizing the agricultural sector in the country.

In 2020, agricultural crops contributed 915 billion Philippine pesos (51.4%) of the gross value added (GVA) in the agriculture industry in the Philippines. [157] The gross value added of the livestock sector in the Philippines contracted by 6.9 percent, the highest among the subsectors in the agriculture industry. [159] Sugarcane was the leading crop produced in the Philippines with a total volume of production at 24.4 million metric tons. This was followed by rice with a production volume of 19.3 million metric tons. [160] The share of employed people working in the agriculture industry in the Philippines reached 24.8 percent. The agriculture, hunting and forestry segment accounted for the majority of the employment share. [161]

Opportunities and
advantages

  • The Philippine pig industry is the largest among its livestock sector and comes after Vietnam in terms of production in the region. The country is the world’s tenth-largest consumer, eighth-top producer, and seventh-largest importer of pork. About 64% of the country’s pig population is raised in small backyard farms, while commercial farms account for the rest. [162]

  • In the Philippines, backyard farms account for around 20% of poultry production, while 80% comes from commercial farms equipped with varying degrees of automation and technologies, which are usually imported. The country is also generally self-sufficient when it comes to poultry meat. [162]

  • As an agricultural country, the Philippines is in the best position to have an agriculture-driven economy. [157] Production of livestock, poultry, and dairy are private sector-led industries contributing a third of the agricultural sector’s output. Recovery from the pandemic is an opportunity to transform the industries by a process of consolidation under farmer organizations. These organizations shall serve as the main conduit for capacity augmentation, technology transfer, and delivery of regulatory and other services. This setup promotes resilience to shocks, competitiveness against foreign-produced meat and milk, and the strengthening of local institutions while sustaining the role of the private sector in the long-term development of the industries. [163]

  • The transformation of agricultural farming into a thriving agribusiness-driven sector entails acquiring farming technologies, training in more sophisticated farming techniques, creating stable supply chains, establishing transport and agricultural infrastructure, investing and research and development, and securing a reliable property rights regime. These activities can contribute not only in diversifying and increasing the value of agribusiness outputs, but also contribute to the inclusive growth and rural development agenda of the Philippine government. Because of this, the agribusiness sector is positioned to largely contribute to the industrial development of the Philippine economy. [165]

  • Transforming Philippine agriculture into a dynamic, high-growth sector is essential for the country to speed up recovery, poverty reduction and inclusive growth, according to the latest report released by the World Bank. There is a lot of potential for growth and investment opportunities to the Department of Agriculture’s “new thinking” in agricultural development, suggesting shifting away from a heavy focus on specific crops towards improving the overall resilience, competitiveness, and sustainability of the rural sector. [164]

  • In the past, spending has gone mostly toward price support for selected crops and goods, as well as subsidies on inputs such as fertilizer, planting materials, and machines. Global experience shows that while ensuring the availability of key inputs remain important, reorienting significant public spending toward investments in public goods—including research and development (R&D), infrastructure, innovation systems, market information systems, and biosecurity systems—results in faster poverty reduction and greater productivity gains through an overall modernization of agriculture.[164]

  • In situations where farmers need support to help them access markets and improve their livelihood, or when compensation measures are needed for farmers affected by trade policies such as the rice liberalization in the Philippines, direct cash payments or cash transfers can be a better option, as practiced in many countries like Turkey, European Union, and the US, says the report. These direct payments have many advantages, such as giving farmers more choices and encouraging private sector development in upstream (inputs and agricultural services) and downstream (processing, marketing) markets, thereby helping farmers connect to these markets and opportunities. [164]

  • Interventions like farm consolidation (including cooperative farming schemes for instance), better extension services, e-commerce, and investments in agribusiness start-ups can further advance modernization of Philippine agriculture. [164]

  • Long-running programs aiming to raise agricultural productivity and reduce poverty in rural communities. An example of this is the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) which aims to help increase rural incomes and enhance farm and fishery productivity. [164]

  • Several projects are in the pipeline to help raise agricultural productivity, resiliency and access to markets of farmers and fisherfolk in selected ancestral domains in Mindanao and improve management of coastal fishery resources in selected coastal communities. [164]

Featured Companies

  • Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc. (BAVI) Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc. (BAVI) is the largest rotisserie chicken company in the Philippines. The main office of the company is located in Pasig City, Manila and has over 900 employees. With almost 2,000 retail outlets, BAVI is the Philippines’ #1 rotisserie chicken company. It is also the country’s second largest poultry integrator, together with sister company Bounty Fresh Foods, Inc. (BFFI). BAVI’s retail brands include Chooks-to-Go, Uling Roasters, Adobo Connection, and HeiHei. The company also distributes dressed chicken products in supermarkets, wet markets, hotels, and restaurants outside Metro Manila under the Bounty Fresh Chicken brand. In 2017, BAVI became the first Filipino poultry company to produce Zero Antibiotics Chicken using the No Antibiotics Ever chicken technology. The company was named Most Innovative Company of the Year by the Asia CEO Awards in 2018, and was given a Gold Accreditation from Investors in People for its outstanding people management practices in 2019. [165]

  • Biotech Farms Incorporated Biotech Farms Incorporated is a world-class agri-business company and the leading supplier of high-quality pork and egg products in Mindanao. As a result of their relentless and uncompromising pursuit to quality and food safety, Better Pork and Better Farms are the major products marketed by the company. Biotech Farms commenced operations in 2001 as a multiplier farm of a US-based genetics company, with an initial stock of fewer than 1,000 sows imported from Australia and added few hundred of pure-bred sows from Quebec, Canada. Following the commercial success of their swine farm expansion, Biotech Farms established its first poultry layer farm in 2010, with an initial population of a few hundred-thousand layers. Since then, their poultry population has increased to over one million layers, allowing the company to consistently supply products throughout Mindanao. Operations of their agro-industrial complex commenced in 2012 located in South Cotabato with the goal of ensuring strict quality-control standards in their feed production and providing employment to over 600 locals. All of the feed used at Biotech Farms is formulated in secure feed mills, closely monitoring the entire production line to ensure that any mycotoxins in the feed are totally eliminated, and producing more than 500 tons of quality-controlled feed per day. The Agro-Industrial Complex also houses a state-of-the-art Biomass Renewable Energy Project, which currently produces over 7 megawatts of renewable bioenergy from the rice hulls and corn cobs leftover from their corn and paddy grain processing operations. [166]

  • Dole Philippines Inc. Dole Philippines Inc. is organized under the name Dolefil. Established in 1963, it is a subsidiary of the Dole Food Company which is an American-Irish agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Ireland. Dolefil operates a fully integrated plantation and industrial facility in Polomolok, South Cotabato in Mindanao, for the production of fresh and processed pineapple for the export market. It also has operations in General Santos City, Municipality of Surallah in South Cotabato, and in the Municipalities of Maramag and Talakag in Bukidnon. The company directly employs about 4,600 regular employees. The company operates on about 15,000 hectares as its base plantation. About 8,000 hectares of which is being leased by the company from the Dolefil Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative (DARBC), and about 5,000 hectares is also being leased from 1,600 individual landowners. Another 5,000 hectares are grower plantations. There are about 1,500 pineapple growers belonging to five (5) grower cooperatives. The grower program ensures the growers better return compared to farming traditional products like rice and corn which suffer from market price fluctuations and poor post-harvest facilities. [167] [168]

  • Alson Aquaculture Corporation Alsons Aquaculture Corporation takes pride as the Philippines’ largest processor and exporter of premium quality bangus and many other processed seafood products. The company started in aquaculture in 1988 and developed and managed their processing plant and fully integrated farm–to–market fish processing operation which is based in Sarangani Bay, Southern Mindanao, where seafood is abundant. The company is expanding their global reach with 70% of their products exported to international markets and the rest are marketed and distributed to local retail and foodservice customers. The company strictly complies with the international food safety standards and they are certified compliant to ISO 22000:2005, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) and HALAL. Alsons Aquaculture Corporation’s headquarters is located at Maribulan Alabel, Sarangani Province and has more than 300 employees. [169]

Sources

[154] Statista. (2021e, October 26). Agriculture in the Philippines.

https://www.statista.com/topics/5744/agriculture-industry-in-the-philippines/#dossierKeyfigures

[155] Industry Gov Ph. (n.d.). Agribusiness. Securing The Future of Philippine Industries.

Securing The Future of Philippine Industries. https://industry.gov.ph/category/agribusiness/

[156] Bugado, R. (2015). INDUSTRY CAREER GUIDE: AGRIBUSINESS1. Angelo King Institute of De La Salle University.

https://www.dlsu.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2015-26.pdf

[157] PearlPay Inc. (2022, March 23). The Role of Agriculture: Rebooting the Philippine Economy. PearlPay.

https://pearlpay.com/the-role-of-agriculture-rebooting-the-philippine-economy/

[160] Statista. (2021d, October 13). Volume of production of leading crops Philippines 2020.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1018747/leading-crop-production-philippines/

[161] Statista. (2021b, October 7). Employee share agriculture industry in the Philippines 2019–2020.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/713240/philippines-number-of-agriculture-industry-employees/

[162] IEDA. (n.d.). Pork and Poultry Production in SE Asia. Iowa Economic Development Autority.

https://www.iowaeda.com/iowa-stories/guest-articles-2021-pork-poultry/

[163] Socioeconomic Research Portal for the Philippines. (2022). Domestic Benchmarking of the Philippine Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Industries.

https://serp-p.pids.gov.ph/index.php?r=publication%2Fpublic%2Fview&slug=domestic-benchmarking-of-the-philippine-livestock-dairy-and-poultry-industries

[164] World Bank Group. (2020, September 8). PHILIPPINES: Vibrant Agriculture is Key to Faster Recovery and Poverty Reduction. World Bank.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/09/09/philippines-vibrant-agriculture-is-key-to-faster-recovery-and-poverty-reduction

[165] Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc. (BAVI). (2021, December 7). Who We Are. Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc.

https://bavi.com.ph/about/

[166] Biotech Farms. (2021, January 3). About Us. Biotech Farms, Inc.

https://biotechfarms.com/about/

[167] Dole®. (n.d.). Dole® Sunshine. Dole® Sunshine.

https://dolesunshine.com/ph/en/

[168] GLOBALG.A.P. (n.d.). Philippines Inc., Dole.

https://www.globalgap.org/ar/Profiles/Philippines-Inc./

[169] PhilFarm. (2020, August 10). Alson Aquaculture Corporation.

https://www.philfarm.com/alson-aquaculture-corporation/