Agriculture may finally be receiving the investment it deserves, but much more is needed to unlock its full potential as a driver of food security, rural prosperity, and economic resilience, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said on Thursday, July 23.
Speaking before the Food Security Forum of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP), Tiu Laurel said agriculture has long been expected to feed the nation, tame inflation and provide livelihoods for millions despite decades of chronic underinvestment.
“Agriculture has never been an industry for the impatient,” he said. “Rice does not grow on news cycles. Corn does not respond to hashtags. Irrigation canals are not built overnight.”
The secretary said the sector’s contribution to the economy has steadily declined, with agriculture’s share of gross domestic product shrinking from 19 percent in 2005 to just 7.9 percent two decades later. While part of the decline reflects the expansion of industry and services, he said it also reveals years of treating agriculture as “yesterday’s industry instead of tomorrow’s insurance policy.”
That mindset, he said, has changed under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who has nearly doubled the Department of Agriculture’s budget from about P117 billion in 2022 to roughly P215 billion today.
For 2027, the DA is looking at a budget that approaches P250 billion.
“Investment is where reform begins,” Tiu Laurel said. “It buys tractors instead of excuses. It builds irrigation instead of promises.”
The additional funding is supporting farm mechanization, irrigation, research laboratories, hatcheries, cold-chain facilities, digital infrastructure and post-harvest systems designed to improve productivity while reducing losses and food costs.
The expanded Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, now funded at P30 billion annually, has broadened support for machinery, certified seeds, solar irrigation, cash assistance, production inputs, and affordable credit.
The Marcos adminstration also increased funding to the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. by P2 billion this year, and may approve an additional for 2027 to cover more farmers and fisherfolk.
Meanwhile, the Animal Industry Development and Competitiveness Act is channeling P20 billion annually to rebuild the livestock sector, particularly the hog industry devastated by African swine fever.
The investments are beginning to yield results. Agriculture and fisheries expanded 2.6 percent in 2025, their fastest growth in eight years, while gross value added rose 3.1 percent despite erratic weather and lingering animal diseases.
Consumers also benefited as rice prices eased, food inflation moderated, sugar prices declined and vegetable prices became more stable, aided by calibrated imports, expanded Kadiwa stores, stronger National Food Authority buffer stocks and sustained production support.
Still, Tiu Laurel stressed that the transformation is far from complete.
Nearly half of the country’s irrigable land remains without irrigation, logistics costs remain high, research requires greater funding and climate change continues to threaten harvests.
He said future investments will focus on expanding mechanization, irrigation, mega food hubs, agriports, fish hatcheries and digital technologies, including artificial intelligence and satellite-based monitoring, to sharpen decision-making from farm planning to disaster response.
“Progress should not be measured by whether every problem has disappeared,” Tiu Laurel said. “It should be measured by whether we are finally investing in solutions equal to the challenge.”
He added that sustained investment is essential not only to improve farmers’ and fishers’ incomes but also to secure the country’s food supply for generations to come.
