Just like any other industry, the agriculture sector in the Philippines experienced various challenges at the height of the government’s efforts to contain the further spread of COVID-19 in the country.
The first weeks of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) effectively disrupted a lot of tried and tested systems that are in place but also paved the way to incorporate new ideas that are not entirely virus proof but workable in the middle of a pandemic.
However, the fear brought by the disease has proven the fact that the values of farmers and fisherfolks are underappreciated and are only being given attention when the security of food supply is at risk.
Logistical Nightmare
Even before the pandemic, shipment of farm goods into the cities have been faced with various challenges but when the disease became a big problem, those logistical issues also magnified. The initial confusion of officers manning borders on what types of shipments will be allowed entry amid the ECQ also did not help.
The first days of the community quarantine resulted in the rotting of various fruits and vegetables left undelivered from trading posts in provinces; hampered supply of fertilizers, farm machineries and other inputs; and a shortage on animal feeds that caused panic in numerous farms.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) resolved it with the issuance of food pass stickers that enabled all vehicles carrying agricultural commodities with an express lane in border inspections. The said move was also paired with efforts to bring the food products closer to consumers by introducing rolling stores and online delivery services.
Food Supply Scare
With the imposed lockdowns and travel restrictions, people were forced to beef up their food stocks at home which in turn, created an artificial shortage of basic goods as some individuals resorted to hoarding of supplies.
Likewise, Vietnam’s kneejerk reaction to temporarily stop its rice exports to assess its inventory and prioritize local demand, caused a panic among local stakeholders as the ASEAN neighbor is the largest supplier of imported rice to the Philippines.
The said incidents encouraged the DA to revive and reinforce its urban gardening programs that are meant to set up vegetable plantations that are fit in the metropolis to provide a readily available and sustainable food supply.
The agency also went back to its ‘roots’ by pouring in funds that are meant to further improve the country’s own rice production to increase yield and be more less reliant from imports which was proven to be unreliable during emergency.
Falling Meat Demand
Before the pandemic became a global phenomena, various types of buffet restaurants offering different cuisines were booming business ventures. Those were the days when several restaurants can be found in a single strip where people actually wait in a long queue just to be served.
Alongside the long lines is the equally strong demand for meat products which is usually the main ingredient for popular dishes. However, sales of meat suddenly plummeted when restaurants were temporarily shut down as the quarantine was put in place.
Cold storages in the country are currently filled to the brim as the increased demand of households for meat products is still not enough to fill the void left by the lost appetite of fast food chains and diners.
The DA projects that the supply-demand situation will normalize soon especially with the recent decision of the government to allow the re-opening of restaurants although in a limited capacity and the continuing popularity of online-based food deliveries.
Local poultry and hog raisers can also hope for the best with the United States Department of Agriculture’s study citing that the Philippines’ food retail sales this year is expected to reach $60 billion, up by 20 percent from last year’s $50 billion.
The agency claims that such growth is still achievable despite the pandemic with the change in consumer behavior as more people have been cooking food at home, driving a surge in purchases of local and imported food and beverage products from supermarkets and online portals.
It also boldly projected that about 70 percent of the food service sales or roughly $10 billion will go to the food retail sector by the end of 2020.
Likewise, the continuing presence of animal diseases such as avian flu for poultry and the African swine fever for hogs in the Philippines amid the COVID-19 pandemic is also causing additional threats to food supply security.
Stricter Exports Protocols
In terms of exporting products, the Philippines is globally known for producing high quality fruits. However, being also classified as a food item, the sector is experiencing some headwinds as well.
For one, Japan has requested for alternative measures to allow shipments of papayas and mangoes from the country with the temporary absence of actual Japanese inspectors in our borders due to the COVID-19 scare.
Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that since the dispatch of their inspectors is currently impossible, our Bureau of Plant Industry must submit the results of its inspection of treatment facilities and packing areas before the start of operation of the current season.
Likewise, the Japanese agency asked for a copy of treatment recording sheet and phytosanitary certificate for verification before each treated consignment is exported, apart from doubling the sampling rate of consignments at their inspection facilities.
On the other hand, the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association warned that the country may possibly lose a big chunk of its market share in supplying banana exports to China because of stricter COVID-19 precautions.
The group mentioned that China, which is currently the biggest buyer of Philippines’ cavendish banana may opt to source instead from Vietnam and Cambodia as the two nations have fewer COVID-19 cases and are geographically nearer.
Growth Despite the Pandemic
The pandemic has hit the country for the entire second quarter of the year but surprisingly, the Philippine Statistics Authority still recorded a 0.5 percent improvement in the country’s agriculture production performance for the period, pushed by growth of the crops and fisheries subsectors.
Production in the crops subsector went up by 5 percent during the quarter and contributed 53.7 percent to the total agricultural production.
Palay production increased by 7.1 percent as it reached 4.13 million metric tons (MT) for the quarter compared to the previous 3.85 million MT while corn experienced a 15.4 percent growth reaching 1.35 million MT from 1.17 million MT. Other high value crops such as cacao, sweet potato, tobacco and tomato also contributed higher productions.
On the other hand, the fisheries subsector improved by 0.9 percent during the period and contributed 16 percent to the total agricultural output.
Bali sardinella posted the highest production growth followed by skipjack, roundscad and cavalla. Minimal output increases were also noted for major species such as yellowfin tuna, tiger prawn, milkfish and seaweed.
Meanwhile, the livestock subsector with its 17.3 percent contribution to total agricultural production had an 8.5 percent contraction in its output for the second quarter of 2020.
Hog, which is the sector’s main driver, had its production dropped by 5.2 percent to 550.02 thousand MT from 580.11 thousand MT. Higher decreases in outputs were also reported for cattle, carabao and goat.
Moreover, the poultry subsector posted a 4.7 percent drop in its performance in output for the quarter, accounting for 13 percent of total agricultural output.
Production declines of 7.8 percent each were registered for chicken and duck ending the quarter at 440 thousand MT and 4.92 thousand MT, respectively. Other components like duck eggs and chicken also suffered a downtrend in output.
DA Secretary William Dar, expressed that the increased performance for the quarter can be credited to the hard work of farmers and fisherfolks.
“We got a creditable second quarter performance of the agriculture sector at 0.5 percent. We are happy even with this growth as we were expecting a significant contraction in agriculture. Thanks to our farmers and fishers for their hard work and dedication to continuously produce enough food for the country. It is an uphill target because of the pandemic (but) we hope to achieve around 1.5 percent (growth for the entire year),” he explained.
Moving Forward
COVID-19 may not be the first pandemic that the world has experienced but it definitely changed and will continue to re-shape policies and priorities not just in the sector of agriculture but in other industries as well.
They say that we just reap what we sow – so, the decisions and actions that will be implemented today amid the pandemic will be the barometer on how prepared we are for far worse scenarios that may happen in the future.