The Department of Agriculture (DA) expressed support to commercialize farming technologies developed at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna (UPLB) and bankroll research and development (R&D) projects that would help farmers and other industry stakeholders raise output and meet the rising global demand for Philippine farm products.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap bared in the recent UPLB graduation ceremonies that DA will facilitate the transfer of UPLB-developed agriculture technologies to the private sector.

While the country's premier agricultural learning and research institution has already developed various technologies to boost farm production and profitability, Yap said many of these have yet to be commercialized and utilized by the private sector.

"If you keep all these technologies incubating here, they will all go to waste. We have to bring these to the private sector because it is the private sector's imagination and entrepreneurial study that's going to give us solutions on what to do with all the great technology that you have here," Yap said.

"Because a major program of ours is to encourage the development of more technologies as well, especially for all of those agriculture sub-sectors that have an offensive capability for international markets."

Yap likewise noted that while the Philippines corners 60% of the world coconut trade, the government has yet to link up with the private sector to commercialize technologies that have already been developed to boost production and enhance the quality and diversity of this top food export.

Yap said that investing in R&D and technology transfer is part of the DA's five-point program on his watch to make Philippine agriculture sustainable by ensuring the profitability of the sector for small farmers and fisherfolk.

This five-point program focuses on market access; rural infrastructure; postharvest and storage facilities; credit, financial and insurance support; research, development, rural extension work and training.

These five programs are in support of President Arroyo's "8 b y '08" agenda of social payback to the masses, which includes, among others, easing hunger; pulling down the cost of living; creating more jobs and generating more investments, especially in rural communities.

Yap noted that in a world of rising food demand and scarce resources, the only way to ensure the sustainability of Philippine agriculture is to guarantee the profitability of the sector for our farmers and fisherfolk.

He stressed that to make agriculture profitable for Filipino farm producers, the DA's top priority is to "business-ize" Philippine agriculture to make farmers earn more money at the point of production, and not just the traders at the point of sale. Making agriculture profitable producers, he added, would also make food products more available and more affordable prices for low-income consumers.

He cited, for instance, the need to establish direct linkages between farm production areas and major consumption centers to bridge the wide gap between the farmgate costs and retail prices of basic food items.

Yap noted that a kilo of onion costs only P7 a kilo in Nueva Ecija but sells for P30 to P40 a kilo in Metro Manila's retail markets, while cabbage that is sold in Benguet at P7 a kilo but can be bought for as high as P50 in wet markets in the metropolis. A kilo of chicken costs P50 at farmgate but sells for P100 to P110 in Metro Manila's supermarkets, he added.

One way to bridge this gap, Yap said, is the DA's initiative of opening up more bagsakan or drop-off centers and barangay food terminals (BFTs), where farm producers can directly sell their produce. Under this setup, farmers earn P10 to P20 more a kilo and consumers buy their products at prices cheaper by P10 to P15 a kilo.

To further enhance the profitability of Philippine agriculture for its stakeholders, Yap said the DA needs to invest not only in R&D and in bagsakan centers and BFTs, but in rehabilitating irrigation systems and constructing new ones; setting up adequate post-harvest and storage facilities; expanding export markets; and tapping microfinance and other credit support facilities for small farmers and fisherfolk.