15/09/2025
| The Great Irony: Agriculture Graduates Feed Other Nations, Not Their Own
Every year, thousands of Filipino students take up agriculture, a degree that should embody service to the nation’s food security. But let’s face the bitter truth: for many of them, agriculture has become less of a calling and more of a ticket out of the country. Instead of staying to serve our own fields, graduates are flocking abroad where their skills are paid—and respected—far better than in the Philippines.
Why? Because here at home, agriculturists are undervalued, underpaid, and under-appreciated.
This irony is not just sad—it’s enraging. Agriculture is the backbone of the Philippines, yet the professionals trained to strengthen it are left struggling. Farmers and agriculturists feed the nation, but they remain among the lowest paid. Even worse, government neglect only deepens the crisis.
The law is clear. Section 32, Article IV of Republic Act 11215, the Philippine Agriculturists Act, mandates that registered agriculturists working in government and SUCs must receive at least Salary Grade 13. But what do we see? Many still endure substandard pay, contractual jobs, and stalled careers. The law is written—but not lived.
So, who values Filipino agriculturists? Ironically, it’s foreign nations. Countries like Japan, Israel, Canada, and New Zealand welcome our graduates with open arms, fair wages, and dignity. They know the worth of Filipino expertise. Back home, our government seems blind to it.
The real tragedy lies not in the choice of graduates to seek opportunities abroad but in the government’s failure to make agriculture a viable and dignified profession at home. For decades, agricultural development has been treated as an afterthought—mentioned during crises, celebrated during Food Security Month, paraded in campaign promises—only to be sidelined once the spotlight fades. Budgets may rise on paper, but on the ground, the very people who carry the sector forward remain neglected.
Let’s be blunt: patriotism does not pay rent. Passion does not put food on the table. Until agriculture is made a viable profession here, graduates will continue to export their talents while Philippine agriculture sinks further into decline.
If the government truly wants to keep its brightest agriculturists within our borders, it must act with urgency and resolve. First, it must fully implement the provisions of RA 12215 and ensure that no registered agriculturist is paid below Salary Grade 13. Second, it must expand permanent plantilla positions for agriculturists in SUCs, government agencies, and local government units, ending the cycle of contractual insecurity. Third, it must invest not only in infrastructure and subsidies but in the human capital of agriculture—our scientists, breeders, extensionists, and field experts—who form the very foundation of innovation and productivity.
To undervalue agriculture is to undermine the nation’s survival. To neglect agriculturists is to starve our future. The Philippines cannot afford to keep losing its homegrown talent to foreign lands. We need our agriculture graduates here—improving seeds, innovating technologies, revitalizing farms, and empowering communities.
Let’s stop treating agriculture as a political prop trotted out during food shortages and campaigns. It is the lifeblood of the nation. To starve agriculturists of dignity and fair pay is to starve the Philippines itself. The call is urgent: uplift agriculturists now—or risk losing them all to foreign lands.
Because if we continue down this path, the fields of other countries will thrive with the sweat and skill of Filipinos, while our own soil lies abandoned. And that, truly, is the most bitter harvest of all.
