THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Sunday said it is rolling out comprehensive reforms to address the “broken economics“ of the country’s farming system.
“Despite sustained [government] spending, outcomes on the ground remain fixed. Productivity gains have been uneven, farmer incomes remain low, and food supply shocks continue to affect consumers,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement.
The problem is how resources are deployed, a need for ”better targeting, stronger governance, and more coordinated execution,” he noted, saying the solution is to shift ”from fragmented, input-focused interventions to a coherent, impact-oriented, and results-driven reform agenda.”
Among the changes is to direct public investments to specific areas with high poverty incidence and substantial production potential, “where the returns to interventions are the highest — like a business,” said Tiu Laurel.
Another plan of action is to modify the government’s rice-centric strategy. While supporting the rice sector remains vital, the DA said it will pursue a more balanced approach to diversify revenue streams and lessen susceptibility to shocks. This includes increasing assistance for fisheries, sugar, coconut, corn, cattle, and high-value crops.
Part of such reforms is institutionalizing accountability, transparency, and participatory governance throughout the whole project cycle.
“Effective policies [are] not only about what we implement, but how transparent and accountable we do it,“ Tiu Laurel said, citing structured feedback mechanisms for farmers and fisherfolk, as well as open access to program information.
The DA is also boosting co-investments with local government units through improved data management and province-led extension systems, including updated farmers and fisherfolk registries in the DA’s Command Center, which Tiu Laurel said will be operational by February.
Other investments are placed in post-harvest infrastructure and logistics to solve what Tiu Laurel referred to as the “missing middle“ of the value chain. Some P33 billion will go to post-harvest facilities, farm-to-market roads, agricultural food hubs, deep-water ports, and cold storage expansion. “This represents a deliberate shift away from the production-only mindset towards a holistic value chain approach,” the Agri chief said.
All these reforms, which are supported by a results matrix under the Philippine Development Plan and included in the 2026 budget, are intended to convert policy into quantifiable results.
“For the Marcos administration, success would mean agriculture evolving from a social protection concern into a competitive, investment-ready sector — one that delivers income, resilience, and long-term growth,“ Tiu Laurel said.