THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will seek to move away from its current rice-centric focus by funding more high-value crops like coconut and coffee in 2026.
“Bago ako pumasok, actually rice-centric na. (Before I took office, the Department was already rice-centric) But right now, for our proposed 2026 budget, we are putting more money into coconut, calamansi, coffee, sugar, (and other) high-value crops,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. told reporters.
In the first quarter, the value of production of palay (unmilled rice) at constant 2018 prices grew 0.3% to 4.7 million metric tons.
Corn production declined 5.1% in the quarter, reversing the year-earlier 0.5% growth.
Coconut output slipped 0.3%, against the 3.3% decline a year earlier.
Crops that posted double-digit increases in the value of production included tobacco (80.4%), cacao (23.6%), sugarcane (19%), rubber (13.6%), coffee (10.7%) and mung bean (10.1%). — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza