By Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (IBC-13)
Many think the problem with Philippine agriculture can always be described in four words—the price of rice.
But the country’s problem with the price of rice is a mere symptom that’s a result of countless factors.
These factors include climate change and nearly 50 years of government passing over Philippine agriculture for other development priorities.
The backward state of Philippine agriculture was why President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. initially took the helm of the agriculture sector in 2022.
For President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., attaining food security sits on top of his development agenda in a time where the precepts of sustainability remained paramount all over the world.
Ever the hands-on leader, the President dissected all the problems besetting Philippine agriculture and had the Department of Agriculture (DA) come up with fast and extensive solutions to each one of them.
One of the problems that bears heavily on the country’s agriculture sector has to do with the question of who will grow the nation’s food of tomorrow?
This question echoes louder as fewer young Filipinos turn to farming—a calling often dismissed as underpaid, undervalued, and out of sync with the times.
Agriculture is seen by many as a last resort—a pursuit for older generations or those with limited access to higher education or lucrative careers.
Yet, the irony persists. In a nation celebrated for its fertile lands and rural heritage, where more than half of the population still resides in the countryside, farming has been left behind.
But all is not lost.
In recent years, glimmers of hope emerged as the nation took decisive steps to address its graying farmer population.
A renewed focus on innovation, empowerment, and modernity may yet sow the seeds for a thriving, youthful agricultural workforce.
In October 2023, Department of Agriculture (DA) Assistant Secretary Arnel V. de Mesa reported that the average age of Filipino farmers has slightly increased as younger farmers join the agriculture sector.
According to de Mesa, the government’s registry system has shown that the average age of farmers in the country now stands at 49 to 50 years old, an improvement from the previous average age of 57 years old.
While the country has made gains in enticing the youth to engage in farming, President Ferdinand Marcos himself recognizes that a lot of younger Filipinos are giving the industry the side-eye—mainly due to the stereotypes attached to farming.
Many Filipinos consider farming a laborious and low-paying occupation, leading them to find jobs in the city instead.
Such an issue is counterproductive to the government’s goal of achieving food security for the years to come since for the country to achieve this, it would require the help of the next generation of farmers who would continue the work started by the current generation.
To address this, the DA implemented several programs to entice the younger generation to hop into the agriculture sector.
To rebrand the image of agriculture among the youth, DA’s Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) launched its advocacy campaign “Youth for Mechanization” (Y4M) in 2022.
The campaign believes that farm mechanization is the key to bring back the interest of the youth in agriculture.
Y4M aims to show the younger generation that contrary to common stereotypes in the industry, farming is now easy, efficient, fun, and promising in terms of profit and productivity through farm mechanization.
“The big challenge we face is making farming profitable. The solution lies in embracing technology-based farming methods,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said.
The campaign is being conducted alongside the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Mechanization Program, another program of the DA that seeks to provide machinery to farmers across the country to help improve their productivity and increase their income.
The Program helps Filipino farmers become competitive with those from neighboring countries through machinery grants.
Its adoption among the Farmers Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs) is expected to lessen the production cost by Php3.00/kilo and can save up to 5% of postharvest losses.
Jett Molech Subaba, one of the advocates of Y4M and the supervising science research specialist of the PhilMech-Applied Communication Division, has been traveling across the country—visiting schools, attending summits, and engaging with communities—to inspire the younger generation to embrace careers in agriculture.
According to Subaba, as of November 2024, less than 1,000 individuals have registered on Y4M’s database. Aside from this, PhilMech has also trained more than 1,000 young RCEF beneficiaries and children of farmers.
“Nais ng Y4M na i-train, i-mobilize, at i-empower ang ating mga kabataan sa pamamagitan ng mga skills na may kaugnayan sa mechanization na kanilang magagamit para magkaroon ng income gamit ang ating mga makinaryang ating pinamimigay kagaya ng pagiging machine operator o engine mechanic o training specialist o agri-preneur at iba pa,” Subaba told state-run Radyo Pilipinas.
“Should the younger workforce not engage in farming in the next 15 to 20 years, then our farmers will become scarce. Unti-unting hihina at mababawasan. But may magagawa tayo. If we could just show them options and guide them in this path, walang imposible,” he added.
Subaba said that by showing the youth that farming is no longer as physically taxing as it was in the past using modern technology and farm mechanization, “pwede nating ipakita sa kanila na sa pamamagitan ng mga makabagong teknolohiya, hindi na maghapong nakayuko ang ating mga magsasaka na nagtatanim.”
“Pwede na silang sumakay ng transplanter o precision seeder sa pagtatanim ng palay; Pwede na maghanda ng lupa gamit ang four-wheel tractors habang nagv-vlog o pwede na magpataba ng lupa gamit ang drone o kaya ay mag-ani gamit ang rice combine harvester habang nagli-livestream that they can show to the fellow youth,” he added.
According to Subaba, instead of pushing the youth towards taking the old path, the government is creating hybrid, new, and complementary ways to engage the younger generation in agriculture.
With machinery, the agriculture industry has also become a more profitable line of work, Subaba added.
