ifoam'96 Book of Abstracts 11th IFOAM Scientific Conference 11-15 August 1996, Copenhagen, Denmark

ECOWEB FRONT PAGE SUBJECT INDEX AUTHOR INDEX

Organic World

Philippines: People's Agricultural Plan - 21st Century (PAP 21) O15

Alter Trade Corporation, Block 6-A, Lily Street, Bata Subd., Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines.
Philippines economy is mainly agricultural with land area of 298,170 sq. km. its land used in agriculture is 36% from which arable land: 53%; permanent crops: 35%; meadows and pastures: 12%. Its major crops are rice, coconut, bananas, corn, pineapple, sugarcane, mangoes, coffee and tobacco (1). Agriculture is an important part of the Philippine economy. It accounts for about 22% of the country's GNP and 47% of labour. Most of the Agricultural area is located on 10 of the country's 7,100 islands, principally the large islands of Luzon in the north and Mindanao in the south. The farm sector expanded by 2% over 1994 due to favorable weather and a larger harvest area. For most of the Agriculture the Government's policy is market-oriented except for those crops deemed strategically important, especially rice, maize, and sugar (2). Furthermore, Pres. Ramos' Medium Term Development Plan : 1993-1998 accords agriculture the same degree of importance as industry by pursuing industrialization from a base of Agriculture productivity. - But the plan instigate production of high value crops to meet the demands of the industries and the global world and worse still, export-oriented industrialization is designed for high volume production. Consequently, there will be high raw material requirements like chemical inputs and of course, energy too. The farming areas already dependent to pesticide, herbicide and heavy chemical inputs, continue to destroy the fertility of the soil reducing the status of Agriculture to monocrop and protectionist industry to finance capital. Meanwhile, the environment is in shambles.

FAO, USDA

GATT Part 3, Philippines, Indonesia