By Manny Piñol
The feudal system in Philippine agriculture is the bane of Filipino farmers.
With so many overlords standing in between the farmers and the market and the government failing to lift them up from the level of raw materials producer to processor and merchandiser of his product, the farmers have literally existed as slaves in an oppressive system.
When the coconut farmer complains that the price of copra is P15 but the cooking oil is P60; when rice farmers grumble that the buying price of fresh paddy rice is P15 per kilo while rice in the market is sold at P40; when the rubber farmer cries that the price of raw rubber has dropped from P90 to P25 per kilo but the pick up has increased from P6,000 to P10,000, government neglect of the agriculture is highlighted.
We, in the administration now, especially the Department of Agriculture, are accused of neglecting the plight of the Filipino farmers simply because of the low buying price of these farm products.
Many of the critics do not understand that the pricing of internationally traded commodities, including rice, are beyond the control of the Department of Agriculture.
There is only thing we could do to help and that is lift up the Filipino farmer from the status of raw materials producer to the level of a processor and merchandiser of his product.
This way he reaps the profits which traditionally goes to the middlemen who stand between him and the market.
This is the narrative behind the effort of the Department of Agriculture to organise rubber farmers in the Philippines to form the Philippine Rubber Farmers Cooperative.
The PRFC will now start buying raw rubber from its members at a price slightly higher than prevailing market price and then process this into SPR-20, the semi-processed form which is needed by tire makers.
The PRFC has engaged a Valenzuela, Bulacan-based tire factory, Leo Tires Manufacturing, to process the SPR-20 into motorcycle tires which they in turn will market.
This the first step towards liberating the Filipino farmer from the control of traders and middlemen.
This will be the same strategy which we will employ in the Coconut Industry and the Rice Industry.
Coconut farmers must be taught to process and produce other high value products from coconut, not just the raw material for oil which is Copra.
To do this, village-level processing facilities must be established so that they will produce virgin coconut oil, coco syrup, coco sugar, coco chips, coconut water in bottles or tetrapaks and others.
In the case of the rice farmers, they must be assisted with rice processing facilities so that they will sell milled rice in bags, instead of undried and unmilled paddy rice to traders.
Sadly, these reforms will not happen overnight.
The birth of the Pilipinas Agila Tires took place after over two years.
Sadder still is the fact that many, including some in government, could not see things beyond the tip of their nose.
Instead of long term reforms in the Agriculture sector, they demand Positive Quarterly Numbers citing these as the barometer of Agricultural growth.
These are among the fiercest critics of Agriculture now – people who do not understand that it takes three years from planting before a Coconut would bear nuts, five years for a Mango to flower and produce fruits and a decade for a bed of sea corals destroyed by illegal fishing to grow again.
These people need to be reminded that Agriculture is not only about producing food for today and tomorrow but also about establishing strong foundations so that the next generation of Filipinos will have enough food to it and a better life.
(File photos show my young son, Imman, beside a latex-producing rubber tree in my farm; my brother Pat and his rubber farm workers; a group of poor coconut farmers producing copra and a rice farmer.)
More Stories
Trump Presidency Boon To Philippine Agriculture
Mindanao Fruit Fest Scheduled Sept. 2025
DA, MinDA, LGU! MinDA Targets Tribal Areas For Highland Rice Farming