‘Cost of inaction’: DA estimates P75B in agri losses

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) estimates P75 billion in losses if the government fails to aid rice and corn farmers as well as fisherfolk suffering from high fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East.

“The value that we are projecting to lose, assuming we don’t do anything, the cost of inaction for three major crops alone – and I’m talking about rice, corn, and fisheries – is already P75 billion,” said DA Undersecretary Asis Perez in a Senate hearing on Wednesday, April 8.

Perez told lawmakers and agriculture stakeholders that the agency is preparing as if “a catastrophe… is about to happen.”

Around P37 billion is needed to fund subsidies for farm inputs in May, June, and July that may help sustain harvests in the following months, according to Perez.

One of the interventions the DA listed is fuel assistance that can be sourced from unused DA funds in the 2025 budget and the presidential assistance fund. The DA will also tap P7 billion from the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund to distribute to 2.6 million rice farmers by June 2026.

Already, fishers are cutting down or halting operations due to high fuel prices. Farmers are suffering from low farm gate prices and some traders not buying their harvest, according to Jayson Cainglet of Samahang Industriya at Agrikultura (SINAG).

Meanwhile, the latest retail price monitoring of the agriculture department shows slight increases and decreases across basic agricultural commodities. – Rappler.com