The performance of Philippine agriculture and fisheries is expected to improve further in the Second Quarter of 2017 from an impressive 1Q 5.28% growth as new markets were opened and the world prices of prime products showed an upward trend in the latest Bloomberg report.
Coffee, cacao, rubber and corn, commodities which are traded internationally, posted increases in prices in the world market in the latest Bloomberg TV report posted this morning May 27.
In addition to the outstanding performance of these commodities, the aggressive marketing campaign of President Rody Duterte is providing a much-needed headway for Philippine products to be introduced to new markets.
The opening of non-traditional markets for Philippine agriculture and fisheries products like the Russian Federation and the Eastern European Block is expected to contribute further to the growth of the sector.
On Thursday, the Russian Federation, represented by Agriculture Minister Alexandr Takchev, and the Philippine Government, which I represented, signed the Agreement on Agriculture and Fisheries Cooperation between the two countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier committed to President Duterte that Russia will allocate an estimated $2.5-B to buy Philippine products over the next 12 months.
Among the products Russia is interested to buy are bananas, coconut products, pineapple, coffee, cacao and Philippine mango.
Earlier, the government of Hungary has expressed interest in buying more agriculture and fisheries products from the Philippines, especially tropical fruits.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto specifically mentioned mango as among his favourite Philippine agricultural products during a bilateral meeting with the Philippine delegation which I headed in Budapest on Monday, May 23.
Foreign Minister Szijjarto also offered an €20-million grant for the study on the clean-up of Laguna Lake and Manila Bay and a stand-by credit facility of €510-M for private sector borrowers in the Philippines to strengthen his country’s ties with the Philippines.
The Philippines will be participating in two huge Agriculture and Food Festivals in Hungary and Russia before the end of the year.
In addition to Russia and Hungary, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries will launch an aggressive Eastern European Block marketing campaign which would involve the opening of outlets for Philippine products in country’s like Romania, Poland, Czech Republic and Finland.
These new markets, including the traditional and recently expanded markets of Japan, China and South Korea, are expected to further boost the performance of the Philippine agriculture and Fisheries sectors.
Fisheries, which for so long had been laggard, is getting greater focus now under the Duterte Presidency with the launching of a nation-wide campaign against illegal fishing, the observance of closed fishing season and the launching of the inland waters fisheries program called Project BASIL.
The livestock sector is also getting a boost with the crafting of a 5-year program for Cattle Development which hopes to increase the cattle population in the country by one million heads over the period.
A 10-year Road Map for the development of the Backyard Hog Industry, the Backyard Poultry Industry and the Dairy Industry is also being finalised to further contribute to food production and poverty alleviation in the countryside.
(Photos of the Bloomberg TV report on the performances of world-traded commodities were taken early this morning, May 27 while the photos of the farmers of corn, coffee and cacao were downloaded from public websites. Photo of my brother, Col. Pat Piñol and his prolific Series2000 rubber clone was taken two years ago by me.)
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