THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR: AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, AND FORESTRY

The agricultural sector- consisting of the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors—are as equally important as the other economic sectors of the country.

-Agricultural activities play an important role in economic sustainability and development of the nation, and have been part of the Philippines’ continuing progress since the earliest times.

THE AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY

AGRICULTURAL AS AN INDUSTRY

Agricultural as an industry is very important mainly because it provides us with our food as well as clothing and shelter.

More than half of the world’s laborers also work in agriculture and agriculture related jobs. Without agriculture as an industry, producing food for large populations would be very difficult.

MAIN PRODUCTS IN AGRICULTURE

Agricultural products are mainly food products, usually crops. These crops include cereal grains such as rice, wheat, corn, barley, oats, and sorghum, which are a big part of our diet.

There are also root crops like cassava and potatoes; fruits and vegetables; and various other crops such as coconuts, sugarcane, nuts, and coffee. Other agricultural products used as food include pigs, cattle, chicken, goats, sheep, and various other livestock, which provide meat, milk, eggs, and other types of food.

AGRICULTURE AROUND THE WORLD

Agriculture is practiced in most parts of the world. The following is a general description of how agriculture is utilized in various regions and continents around the globe .

Africa- Only about one-third of the

continent is used for farming because the rest of the land consists of deserts and forest. The main crops are corn, sorghum, and cassava. Cereals serve as Africa’s main agricultural exports.

Asia- Almost half of the lands in

Asia is used for agriculture. Millions of farms are in the continent and about 60% of the workers are in farming. Many Asian countries lead in producing certain products.

Australia-Farmland covers about 70% of the

continent but most of these are used as pasture lands. Most of these farms are commercialized that is they are run as formal businesses with the intent of getting the most profit. Australia is one of the leading producers of wool and dairy products in the world .

Europe

- Half of Europe is abundant farmland, and most of these are used to grow corps. This is assisted by abundant rainfall and generally good climate conditions. The main agricultural crops in europe include barley, potateos , wheat, oats, and fruits and vegetables.

South America

-farming is commercialized in many territories, but poor farmers have gotten their own land through land reform measures. Some of the main corps in the region are banana, coffee, cocoa, and sugar cane , while most produce large volumes of cattle for food.

North America -the continent consists mostly of the

united states and canada. In the US ,more than half of the land area is used for farming , but in canada, it is only about 10%

- Scientific farming methods and processes have been used to come up with better agricultural output.

AGRICULTURE IN THE PHILIPPINES

The philippines contains many fertile areas, and this is the reason why agriculture plays a big part in its economy. Almost half of the labor force is into agriculture, and the industry covers about 25% of the GDP. The right combination of climate, land, topography, and natural vegetation has predisposed the country to developing agriculture.

CURRENT AGRICULTURAL PERFORMANCE IN THE COUNTRY

The Philippines’ Department of Agriculture has reported that agriculture grew by 2.24 percent in 2005, and has managed to better its 2004 record. Some of the problems encountered during the year were a mild EL Nino in the first quarter and the prevalence of typhoons. Generally, the prices of agricultural products moved up, especially with sugarcane, mongo, abaca, and garlic, as well as dairy products.

MAJOR TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT CROPS

-Major temporary crops that were actively pursued by farmers include palay, the top major temporary crop with 3.9 million hectares of farm areas: corn, with 2.4 million hectares; and sugarcane with 344 thousand hectares.

-Among the major permanent crops are coconuts, with about 320 million trees; bananas, with about 170 million hills; pineapple, with 161 million hills; abaca , with 60 million hills; and coffee, with 42 million trees.

Livestock Hog raising, as usual, was the major

livestock raising activity throughout the country in 2005 with 8.6 million hogs raised, many from the Central Luzon and CALABARZON areas. This was follwed by carabao raising, with 2.8 million heads; cattle, 2.3 million; goats, 2.1 million; and horses, 329 thousand.

POULTRY

The raising of chicken remained as the top poultry raising activity in 2005, with about 127 million chickens raised, many of which came from Central Luzon, CALABARZON, and northern Mindanao. This was followed by duck raising, with 11.2 million heads tended. The gross production of poultry was valued at about 108 million pesos.

FARMS

By 2002, total agricultural land in the philippines was about 32 percent of the country’s total land area. Almost 4.8 million agricultural farm were registered covering 9.7 million hectares.

THE FISHERIES SECTOR

The fisheries sector is a very important industry in an economy. It provides the main source of food for many people, and serves as a source of jobs.

Fish

Is one of the biggest sources of protien, a main ingredient in nutrition, and it is also one of the main courses in any meal, aside from the usual meat and vegetables. Thus, with the growing population cornes a growing demand for fish and fish products.

SOURCES OF FISH

1. Seas -these provide the single largest

source of any fisheries. 2. Inland waters-about 16 percent of the total

commercial fish catch are form inland waters such as lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, and fish farms.

3. Fish Farms - Fish farming, also known as

aquaculture , is a controlled raising fish, lessening the pollutants and other environmental factors that may affect them in open seas.

FISHERIES IN THE PHILIPPINES

-Although technology has provided many countries with the ability to fish in the oceans or intrude into the territorial seas of the other countries, it is still easier to develop a country’s fisheries sector in its own waters.

-Major fishing areas in the country include Palawan, Sulu, Manila, Mindoro, Zamboanga, and host of areas that have local river currents.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AQUACULTURE

Aquaculture-also called fish farming , is the

development of fish and other sea creatures in tanks, ponds, or offshore pens.

-In the Philippines, ponds known as “palaisdaan” are used to raise milkfish, tilapia, mollusks, oysters and crustaceans such as shrimps.

PRESENT PERFORMANCE IN FISHERIES

In general, fishery production went up by 6.47 percent, with aquaculture having the biggest gain 10.41 percent

KEY PROBLEMS

Some of the key problems in forest resources are the following:

Continuing Deforestation- with only about 5 million hectares of the forest cover, the Philippines is now one of the most severely deforested countries in the Asia Pacific region. Measures to combat deforestation, such as plantation development, have met with little success, mainly due to illegal forestry activies.

Illegal Logging- this is one of the major illegal forestry activities. With so many illegal logging activities going on, the forest cannot anymore replenish its trees. The government has been helpless in monitoring and enforcing laws on these activities.

Kaingin agriculture – this involves burning a portion of the forest area to be used for agriculture. After the nutrients have been used for certain period of planting, the people doing this called kaingineros, move to other forest areas to repeat the illegal activity. Again, due to lack funds, government has beeb unable to monitor the activities.