The mandate for steering and leading the agriculture sector lies heavily with the Department of Agriculture (DA). Except for what remains of the research department in the PCA, sugar and tobacco at present have very little research support. To date, PhilRice and PCC stand out among the best national research organizations for agriculture in the region. The old PHILCORIN, PHILSUGIN and the National Tobacco Research and Training Center should be resurrected into semi-autonomous research entities and together with PhilRice be accountable to the Secretary of Agriculture. What’s missing are intelligent program planning and execution by the agencies responsible for agriculture, particularly the DA.

Source: Manila Bulletin July 16, 2016 14:15 UTC