Agriculture

The Philippines is moving to turn its top farm and fishery goods into well-regarded global brands, as the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) sign a renewed partnership to help producers earn better prices, grow local sales, and strengthen overseas shipments. Signed on Wednesday, the updated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) revises an earlier deal from 2018 and centers on geographical indications (GIs) as a key part of the administration’s drive to build a more competitive, value-focused, and export-driven agri-fishery sector.

The Department of Agriculture has opened the country’s first seaweed biotechnology facilities worth P22 million at BFAR’s National Seaweed Technology Development Center in Sorsogon.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), under the Department of Agriculture, is pushing to expand the culture of samaral or siganids, more commonly known as rabbitfish, as a key part of plans to diversify the country’s aquaculture sector and generate more stable livelihoods for fisherfolk and fish farmers. In a statement released Tuesday, the agency noted that samaral is a highly promising species supported by proven farming methods, rising output, and a ready existing market of consumers.

The Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration are ramping up efforts to contain an outbreak of the red-striped soft scale insect that endangers sugarcane crops, especially across Negros Island and Western Visayas.

Nearly one out of every three hectares of Philippine farmland converted into buildings and other developments over the past two decades was supposed to be protected, raising fresh concerns that the country is losing valuable food-producing land faster than it can safeguard it, according to a new study led by University of the Philippines researchers.