MANILA: Increased export opportunities in the region should help drive further growth in the Philippines’ agriculture industry, which expanded strongly last year after overcoming the impact of natural disasters.
This month the country signed a US$1 billion agreement with China to step up imports of Philippine agricultural products. This new deal comes on top of a US$100 million farm produce import agreement signed ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s state visit to Beijing last October.
The agreement with China represents a significant boost for the agricultural sector in the Philippines, with the value of the deal roughly equivalent to revenue from farm exports for the fourth quarter of last year.
Officials have said that China is also looking to ramp up imports of seafood products, including crab, shrimp, prawns, tuna and milkfish.
This should come as a welcome development to farmers, who saw access to the Chinese market interrupted last year. China curbed some imports of Philippine agricultural goods on concerns over high levels of chemical pesticides found on some produce – notably bananas – and pest infestation in some other shipments.
Increased export opportunities could see higher levels of investment flow into agriculture and the agri-processing industry, as both primary producers and downstream sectors seek to take advantage of rising overseas demand.
Solid overall annual gains of 3.4 per cent in farm gate prices helped sustain sector growth, with the continued strong performance in exports a contributing factor to earnings. Indeed, the gross value of agricultural production was up 1.35 per cent from 2015.
In late 2016 South Korea announced it was raising the bar on chemical residue on fruit imports, setting the target of zero chemical contamination. This move may put Filipino growers under greater pressure to maintain their strong position in the market, especially as a banana supplier.
Last October the Philippines and Australia upgraded their specific commodities understanding (SCU) to allow for the export of locally grown mangoes to the Australian market, with the exception of those produced in the Palawan region, where infestations remain. The amended SCU acknowledged the Philippines’ pest-free status for seed and pulp weevil.
