The Importance of Agriculture to

the Philippine Economy

By Pulse101

The word agriculture comes from the Latin word "ager cultura'" which means cultivation of the fields.
Agriculture is a special type of production that generally involves cultivating plants and raising
animals. Its scope has since been expanded to include fishery and forestry.
The discovery of agriculture in 6000 B.C. had made a major impact on the development of
civilization.
Before the discovery of agriculture, people subsisted by foraging for food. They hunted, fished, and
gathered for food wherever they could come across for these. They moved from place to place
where they could easily find food.
As population increased, hunting, gathering, and simple fishing became more difficult. To ensure
food supply for the family, the nomads had discovered that they could cultivate crops and
domesticate animals. They needed not to move from place to place but to set up a permanent
community to cultivate a permanent area. They no longer had to worry what to eat and where to find
food. This ended their nomadic life and signaled the beginning of civilization.
The development of agriculture resulted in significant advancements in the people's knowledge and
understanding of their environment. People were able to develop other capabilities to further improve
their lives. This eventually resulted to the invention of different farming tools and methods such as
plow and systematic irrigation systems. This is why it is often said that agriculture is the basis for the
development of societies.

The importance of agriculture to the economy

Agricultural sector plays an important role in the economic progress of a nation. The materials
needed and economic activities come from this.
1. Agricultural sector provides food. The Philippine soil is best suited for root crops such as rice,
corn, sugar cane, potatoes and many others. Mangoes, pineapples, coconuts, and bananas also
abound.
Agricultural sector also provides seafood for mineral and protein needs.
2. Agricultural sector provides raw materials needed to create another products. Natural
materials from forests, fields, and seas can be made into different variety of handicraft products.
3. Agricultural sector contributes to the economic progress through export. Agricultural
products that are exported to other countries include sugar, flowers, fruits, seafood and many others.
An important source of income for the government is the exportation of agricultural products. This is

why the government has primarily focused on developing the country's capacity to export more of
agricultural products.
4. Agricultural sector provides employment to a large number of Filipinos. Those on the
countryside depend on agriculture for their livelihood such as farming, fishing, mining and raising
livestock.
5. A progressive agricultural sector can support other sectors of the economy like
manufacturing, trade and services by supplying the needed raw materials. This is why when a
country dream of industrialization, it needs to expand and improve its agricultural production. But
expanding production alone is not enough to develop the agricultural sector. We have to remember
that it makes up the substantial part of the country's population - people who are potential customers
of other products and services. Alongside efforts to expand production, it is necessary to improve
people's condition in order to strengthen their capacity as consumers. Through this a more vibrant
exchange between productive sectors will take place and progress in both urban and rural areas is
expected to follow.

Conclusion
Agriculture really plays a crucial role in the overall objective and effort to achieve economic progress.
Many of today's developed economies first strove to strengthen their agricultural sectors. They still
provide financial support to their farmers, even scientists and researchers who aim to enhance
further their agricultural production.

INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

NIA is mandated to:

Organize and develop irrigation farmer-beneficiaries into Irrigators Associations

(IAs)/ Irrigators Service Cooperatives (ISCs);

Register the IAs with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); ISCs with
Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) - to attain legal personality;

Provide needed capacity building/training activities to the IAs/ISCs before

transferring operation and maintenance (O&M);

NIA, under its Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) program, is mandated to

gradually transfer the management and O & M of national irrigation systems
(NIS),wholly or partially, to duly organized IAs/ISCs;

Likewise, the agency develops communal or small irrigation projects (CIP) or

rehabilitates existing communal irrigation systems (CIS) with IA participation
then completely transfer to the IA the O & M of the of the completed CIP or
rehabilitated CIS;

NIA assists the IAs/ISCs in establishing linkages with other agencies (both
government and private) that provide support services and other assistance
programs including livelihood/small business ventures to increase farm
productivity and family income.

ORGANIZATION & DEVELOPMENT OF IRRIGATORS ASSOCIATIONS (IAs)

Cumulative Total As of October 31, 2014
PARTICULARS
No. of IAs Organized
No. of Farmer-Beneficiaries
Area Covered by IA (ha)
PARTICULARS

NIS
2,891

CIS
5,322

TOTAL
8,213

575,825
711,836

451,711
500,594

1,027,536
1,212,430
No. of IAs

Involved
As of
Oct. 31,
2014

NIS

Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) gradual transfer of

management and O & M of National Irrigation Systems (NIS) to IAs
depending on the size of the NIS and capacity of IAs.

Model Maintenance of canals delegated to IAs ; IA is compensated

based canal area maintained and existing labor rate

1,192

Turnover of management of lateral canals to IAs; IAs get a

share of Irrigation Service Fee (ISF) collected; Typical ISF
sharing: NIA: 70% IA:30%

1,103

Turnover of management of main and lateral canals to IA

Model Federation (Headworks/Dam not included); IAs get a share of
3
Irrigation Service Fee (ISF) collected; Typical ISF sharing: NIA:
70% IA:30%

77

Complete turnover of irrigation system to IAs; IAs pay NIA a

rental fee at a rate of 75-100 kilograms of dry palay per
hectare per year.

27

Model

Model
4
TOTAL

CIS

2,399
Complete turnover of irrigation system to IAs for operation and
maintenance. Generally, IAs contribute 10% equity during
construction period and pay NIA amortization fee of the direct
cost of construction of the project for a period not exceeding
50 years. An IA has the option to contribute an equity
equivalent to 30% of the project cost and the rest of the
project cost is considered fully-paid.
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