Two leading agriculture experts were members of rival fraternities during their college days at the University of the Philippines Los Baños , but they have found a common ground in a shared conviction.
Protacio, meanwhile, said that unless the “age-old stigma” is addressed, the Philippines will continue to face the problem of aging farmers with a “low-tech” environment as far as agriculture is concerned. “They don’t see the opportunity to earn if they get involved in the different stages in the agriculture supply chain,” he added.
Importation, he said, was a policy of the government. “Even then when I was in Philrice, then DA Secretary Alcala had always been at odds with the NEDA because he wants to produce to be self-reliant for rice, but in the NEDA, they have a different viewpoint. They said it’s cheaper to import so let’s just import,” he said.
Velasco said that there is an opportunity in agriculture production, along with integration, value-adding, and trading. He then quickly pointed out that unless the government works out the supply chain, the small production units in agriculture won’t find it profitable to go into farming for business.