11/10/2025
OPINION | AGRICULTURE: THE FORGOTTEN FIRST
Agriculture has always been the backbone of our country. With fertile land and abundant marine resources, the Philippines was destined to be self-sufficient and food-secure. Yet today, the very sector that sustains our tables suffers from neglect, import dependency, climate change, and lack of modernization. Farmers and fisherfolk—the lifeblood of this nation—remain among the poorest, not because they lack skill or willpower, but because they are left behind by policies that favor quick fixes over long-term solutions.
Despite the Philippines being blessed with rich natural resources, the agricultural sector—comprising mostly farmers and fisherfolk—continues to be marginalized and overlooked. Agriculture employs nearly one-fourth of the labor force, yet it contributes only around 9–10% to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This mismatch is telling: the very people who feed the nation reap the least benefit. Worse, agriculture is too often treated as a “last choice” career path, with many young Filipinos shunning it due to perceptions of poverty, instability, and limited opportunity.
As a 2nd Year Bachelor of Science in Agriculture student, I have personally felt how society often looks down on this field. Some would belittle my chosen course, saying that Agriculture is “easy” and that it’s nothing more than planting crops in the soil. But if that were true, then why do I find myself studying complex subjects like Biotechnology, Organic Chemistry, Livestock and Poultry Production, Soil Science, and other rigorous fields of study that require both intellectual depth and practical application? Agriculture is not a fallback course; it is a science, a profession, and a calling that demands knowledge, resilience, and innovation. Yet the stereotypes remain, as if farming were merely a simple task and not the very foundation of civilization.
Former Agriculture Secretary William Dar once admitted that “so much more” could be achieved if the sector were given proper budgetary support. Instead, agriculture has been persistently neglected, weakening our ability to be self-sufficient and forcing us to rely on imported food. Each shipment of rice, fish, or vegetables that enters our ports is a painful reminder of wasted potential—an admission that the Philippines, with all its natural wealth, cannot feed its own people.
Even more alarming, according to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, our agricultural sector is still stuck in the “mechanization phase” of the Second Industrial Revolution. Meanwhile, other nations are already reaping the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution—using drones, artificial intelligence, robotics, and big data to maximize yields and efficiency. The Philippines, by contrast, still relies on outdated tools, manual labor, and traditional methods that are no longer enough to meet today’s demands.
This technological lag is not just inconvenient—it is a national crisis. Low productivity, recurring shortages, and an aging farming population have trapped us in a cycle of dependency. Importation may temporarily stabilize prices, but it erodes the morale of local farmers and fisherfolk who cannot compete with foreign producers. Add to this the lack of irrigation, poor post-harvest facilities, limited access to credit, and the devastating impact of climate change, and it becomes clear why agriculture feels abandoned.
October is celebrated as National Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Services Month in the Philippines, a time meant to recognize the dedication and sacrifice of those who toil under the sun to feed us all. Yet one cannot help but ask: are we truly honoring our farmers and fisherfolks when policies, perceptions, and systems continue to undermine them? How do we celebrate while many of them remain trapped in poverty, and while the younger generation of agriculture students like me face stereotypes that devalue our course and our future profession?
How long will we continue to treat agriculture as an afterthought, when it should have been our first priority all along? The backbone of our nation is breaking under the weight of neglect, and yet we expect it to carry us through food shortages and crisis.
The choice is clear: either we continue to lag behind, shackled to an outdated system, or we take bold steps to modernize and reclaim our place as a strong, self-sufficient agricultural nation. The question is—when will we finally choose the latter?
If we truly want to honor our farmers and fisherfolk, we must stop choosing importation over investment, neglect over nourishment, and shortsighted policies over long-term modernization. Agriculture must be given the dignity, resources, and innovation it deserves—not only to feed the present, but to secure the future.
Agriculture was never meant to be the “last choice.” It has always been, and must always remain, the forgotten first.
Written by | Kyla Banagan
Layout by | John Rey Custodio
