THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is seeking a P198.45-billion budget for 2027, down 8 percent from its allocation this year, under the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP).
The proposed amount is P17.24 billion lower than the DA’s P215.69-billion allocation under the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
The decline is due to a reduction in funding for farm-to-market roads to P16 billion from P33 billion this year.
However, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said he hopes lawmakers will increase the department’s allocation during budget deliberations.
“What we see in the 2027 budget is at this level because of the fiscal space provided to the DA. Tingin ko pwede pang madagdagan (I think it can still be increased),” Tiu Laurel said at a House Committee on Appropriations budget hearing on Tuesday.
The P198.45-billion allocation is also substantially lower than the P260 billion that the DA initially proposed to the Department of Budget and Management for 2027.
Higher proposed allocations for coffee development, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources projects, and P20 billion for animal industry development and competitiveness partly offset reductions in other programs, including support for attached agencies and digitalization.
The proposed P10-billion allocation for the Rice-for-All program, which supports the government’s P20-per-kilogram rice initiative, remains unchanged.
Under the proposed budget, the DA plans to prioritize programs aimed at increasing farm and fishery productivity, improving infrastructure, reducing post-harvest losses, strengthening logistics and market access, and expanding the use of technology.
The department also wants to strengthen agriculture and fisheries value chains to increase farmers’ and fisherfolk’s share of earnings and improve the sector’s resilience to climate and market disruptions.
Tiu Laurel said the DA would focus on ensuring that its spending translates into higher production and incomes, lower post-harvest losses, and a more stable supply of affordable food.
He stressed that public funds entrusted to the department must be spent properly, carefully, efficiently and with full accountability.
