Agriculture Secretary William Dar underscored the importance of value chain in agriculture to ensure increased productivity and higher income of local farmers and fishers.
During the 18th National Vegetable Congress held on October 8, 2019 at the Albay Astrodome, Dar stressed that to elevate Philippine agriculture, stakeholders must give importance to value-adding, inclusive development, and market access.
In line with this, he presented the “New Thinking for Agriculture” which serves as basis for the implementation of programs and projects of the Department of Agriculture.
“This new approach focuses on improving farmers’ productivity, competitiveness, and prosperity,” Dar explained.
The Secretary also stressed the need to formulate a Crop Diversification Program for the country, which is an important factor for the utilization of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
“We must improve farming systems, intercrop and bring in appropriate crops like cacao and various vegetables. We need to diversify to increase income of farmers,” Dar said.
The agri chief added that diversification is needed to increase the value of the country’s vegetable industry, which amounts to P54 billion at current prices.
“There is so much more income that we can derive from planting vegetables and other plantation crops,” Dar said.
The Secretary stressed that the vegetable industry has to be market-oriented for it to contribute to the economy, and added that the key players in the industry must embrace technologies to make the sector more competitive. ### (Kristel Merle, DA-AFID)
