Agriculture in the Philippines

Rice paddies in Balagtas, Bulacan.
Rice paddies in Balagtas, Bulacan.

Agriculture in the Philippines employs 47% of the Filipino workforce as of 2013, according to World Bank statistics.[1] Agriculture accounts for 12% of Filipino GDP as of 2013, according to the World Bank.[2]

Agricultural products

Rice

The Philippines is the 8th largest rice producer in the world, accounting for 2.8% of global rice production.[3] The Philippines was also the world's largest rice importer in 2010.[4] In 2010, nearly 15.7 million metric tons of palay (pre-husked rice) were produced.[5] In 2010, palay accounted for 21.86% percent of gross value added in agriculture and 2.37% of GNP.[6]

Rice production in the Philippines has grown significantly since the 1950s. Improved varieties of rice developed during the Green Revolution, including at the International Rice Research Institute based in the Philippines have improved crop yields. Crop yields have also improved due to increased use of fertilisers. Average productivity increased from 1.23 metric tons per hectare in 1961 to 3.59 metric tons per hectare in 2009.[3]

Sugar

Raw Sugar produced in a mill in the country.

There are at least 19 provinces and 11 regions that produce sugarcane in the Philippines. A range from 360,000 to 390,000 hectares are devoted to sugarcane production. The largest sugarcane areas are found in Negros which accounts for 51% of sugarcane areas planted. This is followed by Mindanao which accounts for 20%; Luzon, 17%; Panay islands, 7% and Eastern Visayas, 4%.[7] It is estimated that as of 2012, the industry provides direct employment to 700,000 sugarcane workers spread across 19 sugar producing provinces.[7]

Sugar growing in the Philippines pre-dates Spanish contact.[8] Sugar became the most important agricultural export of the Philippines between the late eighteenth century and the mid-1970s.[8] During the 1950s and 60s, more than 20 percent income of Philippine exports came from the sugar industry.[8] Between 1913 and 1974, the Philippines sugar industry enjoyed favoured terms of trade with the US, with special access to the protected and subsidized U.S. sugar market.[8]

Coconuts

Coconuts plays an important role in the national economy of the Philippines. According to figures published in December 2009 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, it is the world's largest producer of coconuts, producing 19,500,000 tonnes in 2009.[9] Production in the Philippines is generally concentrated in medium-sized farms.[10] There are 3.5 million hectares dedicated to coconut production in the Philippines, which accounts for 25 per cent of total agricultural land in the country.[11] In 1989, it was estimated that between 25 percent and 33 percent of the population was at least partly dependent on coconuts for their livelihood. Historically, the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions of Luzon and the Eastern Visayas were the centers of coconut production.[12] In the 1980s, Western Mindanao and Southern Mindanao also became important coconut-growing regions.[12]

Fruit

Strawberries grown in the Philippines.

The Philippines is the world's largest producer of pineapples, producing 2,198 thousand metric tons in 2009.[13] The Philippines was in the top three banana producing countries in 2010, including India and China.[14] Davao and Mindanao contribute heavily to the total national banana crop.[14] Mangoes are the third most important fruit crop of the country based on export volume and value next to bananas and pineapples.[15]

Corn

Corn is the second most important crop in the Philippines. 600,000 farm households are employed in different businesses in the corn value chain. As of 2012, around 2.594 Million ha of land is under corn cultivation and the total production is 7.408 million metric ton(MMT).[16]

Rubber

There are an estimated 38,000 families dependent upon the cultivation of rubber trees. Rubber is mainly planted in Mindanao, with some plantings in Luzon and the Visayas.[17]

See also

Government:

Land reform:

General:

References

  1. ↑ "Employment in agriculture (% of total employment)". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "Agriculture, value added (% of GDP)". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "2009 Crop Production Statistics". FAO Stat. FAO Statistics. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  4. ↑ "Factbox - Top 10 rice exporting, importing countries". Reuters. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "Palay: Volume of Production by Cereal Type, Geolocation, Period and Year". CountrySTAT Database. Bureau of Agricultural Statistics. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  6. ↑ "Philippine economy posts 7.1 percent GDP growth". National Accounts of the Philippines. National Statistical Coordination Board. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Master Plan For the Philippine Sugar Industry. Sugar Master Plan Foundation, Inc. 2010. p. 7.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "History". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  9. ↑ Food And Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:
    Economic And Social Department: The Statistical Division
  10. ↑ Hayami, Yūjirō; Quisumbing, Maria Agnes R.; Adriano, Lourdes S. (1990). Toward an alternative land reform paradigm: a Philippine perspective. Ateneo de Manila University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-971-11-3096-1. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  11. ↑ "Philippines to launch coconut cluster". Investvine.com. 2013-02-16. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Ronald E. Dolan, ed. Philippines: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1991.
  13. ↑ fao.org. "Agriculture Statistics > Pineapples > Pineapple production (2009) by country". Retrieved 7 Nov 2011.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "banana". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "mango". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Agri-Pinoy Corn Program", Republic of Philippines Department of Agriculture.
  17. ↑ "rubber". Retrieved 17 March 2015.

Further reading

External links