Agriculture

The Philippine Coconut Authority is moving quickly to secure extra funds to keep its goal of planting 100 million coconuts by 2028 on track. This forms the core of the Accelerated Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan, the government’s main strategy to rebuild one of the country’s most important agricultural sectors and boost earnings for millions of coconut farming households.

Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed office in June 2022, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has implemented wide-ranging reforms that have stabilized sugar supply, tempered price fluctuations, and strengthened support for thousands of sugarcane farmers even amid weather disruptions and shifting global market conditions. The agency’s approach combines stricter market oversight, carefully calibrated import volumes, and investments in farm modernization to ensure adequate supplies for consumers while shielding producers from steep drops in farmgate prices.

The country's largest agricultural cooperative is accelerating its digital transformation, with Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC) partnering with Nextbank to modernize its financial operations and expand digital banking services for more than 81,000 members nationwide.

The Department of Agriculture is set to release a refined set of rules governing farmland conversion within the coming weeks, a measure aimed at balancing national development with food security.

The Department of Agriculture is pushing for a policy requiring rice importers to invest in local rice infrastructure before they can bring in foreign shipments, a measure being included in the proposed Rice Industry and Consumer Empowerment Act or RICE Act.