Agriculture plays a significant role in the Philippine economy. Involving about 40 percent of Filipino workers, it contributes an average of 20 percent to the Gross Domestic Product. This output comes mainly from agribusiness, which in turn accounts for about 70 percent of the total agricultural output (CIDA-LGSP, 2003).
The main agricultural enterprise is crop cultivation. Others are chicken broiler production, including operation of chicken hatcheries (20.4 percent), agricultural services (19.8 percent), and hog farming (18.4 percent) (NSO, 2002).
The general trends in the last two decades present a dim picture of the agriculture sector. Significant decrease in productivity, high production costs, and low government support to the sector, among other things, have led to a crisis in Philippine agriculture (CIDA-LGSP, 2003).
The neglect of the agriculture sector and the uneven distribution of resources worsened the poverty situation in rural areas. Only the remittances of migrant workers to their families have enabled the latter to survive crippling poverty brought about by stagnant agricultural productivity, stiff competition from cheaper food imports, and periodic droughts and floods that devastated crops and livelihoods.
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AGRICULTURE
Agriculture plays a significant role in the Philippine economy. Involving about 40 percent of Filipino workers, it contributes an average of 20 percent to the Gross Domestic Product. This output comes mainly from agribusiness, which in turn accounts for about 70 percent of the total agricultural output (CIDA-LGSP, 2003).
The main agricultural enterprise is crop cultivation. Others are chicken broiler production, including operation of chicken hatcheries (20.4 percent), agricultural services (19.8 percent), and hog farming (18.4 percent) (NSO, 2002).
The general trends in the last two decades present a dim picture of the agriculture sector. Significant decrease in productivity, high production costs, and low government support to the sector, among other things, have led to a crisis in Philippine agriculture (CIDA-LGSP, 2003).
The neglect of the agriculture sector and the uneven distribution of resources worsened the poverty situation in rural areas. Only the remittances of migrant workers to their families have enabled the latter to survive crippling poverty brought about by stagnant agricultural productivity, stiff competition from cheaper food imports, and periodic droughts and floods that devastated crops and livelihoods.