DA proposes over P500 billion budget for 2025

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is proposing a P513.81 billion budget next year, more than double its current allocation of P208.58 billion to improve the country’s food security.

The bulk of the proposed budget will go to the rice sector with a proposed allocation of P294.21 billion, about 57 percent of the proposed total outlay for next year, the DA said.

It will be followed by the fisheries sector with P50.6 billion and locally funded projects with P45.48 billion, the DA added.

The DA’s proposed budgets for other subsectors are as follows: P32 billion for high value crops, P28.56 billion for livestock, P13.77 billion for foreign-assisted projects, P11.3 billion for corn and P3.38 billion for credit programs.

Furthermore, the DA said it is proposing a P287.98-billion budget for its eight attached government-owned and controlled corporations that include the National Food Authority and the National Irrigation Administration.

“For the DA itself, the envisioned budget for 2025 is nearly double at P225.83 billion compared to P114.28 billion this year to allow various bureaus cope with the need to modernize the fisheries and farm sectors as well as address food safety and anti-smuggling efforts,” it said.

The DA said it is now finalizing the budget proposal this year that is aimed at addressing the “severe” lack of farm infrastructure nationwide.

The department presented its budget proposal to private agricultural groups during a recent consultative meeting.

“(The budget proposal) is still a work in progress but clearly shows the direction where we are headed,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said.

Tiu Laurel sought the private sector’s support for the budget proposal of the department which it noted is “envisioned to build more farm infrastructures, including irrigation and post-harvest facilities.”

“The agri chief has often expounded on the severe lack of investments in agriculture for almost four decades, which led to the declining contribution of agriculture to gross domestic product,” the DA said.

“As a result, millions of Filipinos dependent on the sector have remained poor,” the DA added.