Food Scarcity
March 28, 2008
The Arroyo administration needs to invest in farmers’ productivity and raise their level of profitability to be competitive, a leading agricultural economist said.
Arsenio Balisacan, former agriculture secretary and currently professor of economics at the University of the Philippines, and director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak that government has to invest in appropriate irrigation systems for the farmers and link them up with the markets.
“There is no way we can get our farmers out of poverty and be competitive in the world if we don’t invest in their productivity,” Balisacan said.
He added that government needs professionals in the agriculture bureaucracy “who can appreciate and support continuity of programs.”
Balisacan traced the roots of the current rice crisis to the country’s fast growing population and low productivity. This is exacerbated by the soaring food prices worldwide.
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