THE feed industry is seeking more government support to get through the expected decline in the domestic supply of feed inputs next year, according to the Philippine Association of Feed Millers, Inc. (PAFMI).

PAFMI President Edwin C. Mapanao said that the industry is growing but faces challenges like a lack of competitive inputs, animal disease management, and excessive imports of finished meats.

He added that feed millers are currently facing sourcing challenges.

“We expect local supply (of inputs) to go down due to El Niño, irrigation challenges, and a lack of post-harvest facilities,” Mr. Mapanao told BusinessWorld.

The government weather service said a moderate to strong El Niño is expected until the second quarter of 2024.

He added that global supply is expected to be abundant but access will be subject to disruption by geopolitics.

Livestock feed depends on inputs like corn, wheat, and soy. About 40% to 60% of animal feed consists of yellow corn.

The Philippines has a deficit of about 3 to 5 million metric tons (MT) of corn annually.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, shipments of corn to the Philippines are estimated at 1 million MT during the marketing year 2023-2024.

He said that the government should also help corn producers achieve scale and improve their capacity to conduct direct trade.

“This also reduces the heavy reliance on middlemen, which adds to the cost and diminishes profitability, by enabling farmers to trade directly,” he added.

Mr. Mapanao said that pushing for crop diversification and building more drying and storage facilities would increase yields.

“There is also a need to address challenges in scaling up production, particularly on land use and access to credit,” he added.

He said that the government should improve its crop forecasting capacity and data gathering.

“Crop status reports, planting intentions, forecasts, etc. will go a long way in aiding corn-reliant industries in planning out their purchases,” he added.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr., has said that he will support the revival of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics to ensure accurate and complete data for the agriculture sector.

The gathering of agricultural data is currently being handled by the Philippine Statistics Authority, local government units, Department of Agriculture regional offices, and institutional stakeholders.

“This relaunching marks a significant leap forward in our goal of reinforcing Halal infrastructure in Calabarzon,” Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said in a statement.

“Through the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion Board and the Special Task Force created to grow the industry, we will ensure the development of the Halal industry and enhance the Halal economy within the country,” he added.

The Tanauan slaughterhouse received joint funding from the DTI and the Tanauan Local Government Unit through the Shared Service Facility program.

The department, quoting Tanauan Mayor Nelson P. Collantes, said that the slaughterhouse is significant “in boosting the local government’s business environment and its potential to create employment opportunities within the constituency.”

The DTI also conducted a halal awareness seminar at Tanauan Institute which aims to equip participants with tools needed to champion the halal industry.

“This seminar is a part of the Halal Training and Stakeholders Consultation which seeks to empower micro, small, medium enterprises and cooperatives through workshops, information sessions, and collaborative discussion,” the DTI said. 

The DTI aims to prepare a comprehensive roadmap for the Halal industry in Calabarzon which includes the establishment of a Regional Halal Coordinating Council.

“We are eyeing a bigger share of the $7-trillion global halal market. The scope is vast, from halal food, pharmaceuticals, halal friendly tourism, and Islamic finance to modest fashion and halal cosmetics. Halal is for everyone, as halal food is healthy and hygienic,” Mr. Pascual said.

“I am very optimistic that we can achieve our overarching objective of P230 billion in Halal trade and investment and over 120,000 job opportunities in the next five years,” he added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

But today, critics question the palm oil watchdog’s continued relevance as it struggles to manage other fast-rising concerns, from the industry’s climate change impact to its limited benefits for small-scale farmers — and whether price-sensitive Asian buyers can be persuaded to buy greener oil.

Octogenarian MR Chandran — the head of Malaysia’s palm oil growers’ association when he helped create the global standard for sustainability — said reducing emissions and tackling climate change will be crucial in the coming decades.

“Addressing climate change (is something) we have to do,” Mr. Chandran, now an advisor to the watchdog, said at the organization’s 20^th anniversary meeting last month. “Our carbon footprint has to be addressed.”

Palm oil is the world’s most widely used edible oil, found in everything from margarine to soap, but it has faced scrutiny from green activists and consumers, who say its production has provoked rainforest and peatland loss, fires and worker exploitation.

Since its start in 2004, the RSPO has grown to more than 5,500 member growers, traders, retailers and advocacy groups.

It has gradually tightened standards to include a ban on felling forests and converting peatlands for plantations, as well as greater protection for labor and land rights.

Cutting down forests has major implications for global goals to curb climate change, as trees absorb about a third of the planet-warming emissions produced worldwide, but release carbon back into the air when they rot or are burned.

The Kuala Lumpur-based RSPO recently completed a five-year review of standards and expects to roll out changes by mid-2024. No-deforestation rules — which founding father Mr. Chandran called the RSPO’s greatest achievement — will not be watered down, said chief executive officer Joseph D’Cruz, better known as JD.

But he also stressed that the industry should look to reduce emissions and tackle climate change. “We certainly have a lot of work being done to understand and minimize those GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions,” Mr. JD told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“But there is a qualitative shift from there to really looking rigorously at carbon through our entire lifestyle and supply chain, and demonstrating that we are really optimizing that — there is a lot more that we can do as an industry,” he added.

Mr. JD, who was appointed in March last year, said improving soil carbon and cutting methane releases from palm oil mills are some of what’s needed.

Over the last two decades, pressure from environmentalists and consumers has pushed big companies that produce, trade or buy palm oil to tackle labor abuses on plantations and commit to ending deforestation — with some success.

Deforestation rates in both Malaysia and Indonesia — the world’s top two palm oil producers — have fallen in recent years, according to nonprofit World Resources Institute.

But smallholders, who account for about 40% of palm oil plantation areas in Indonesia and Malaysia, have largely been left behind, say industry analysts.

Globally, there are more than 7 million small-scale palm oil growers and only about 170,000 are RSPO-certified.

“The greatest difficulty for RSPO is to be relevant to independent smallholder palm producers,” said Matthew Spencer, global director for landscapes at sustainable trade foundation IDH.

“As the gold standard for palm, it struggles to be simple and cheap enough to attract big numbers of smallholders.”

Joko Prasetyo is head of the Association of Independent Oil Palm Smallholders, a collective of RSPO-certified farmers on Sumatra island that is backed by Indonesian producer Musim Mas.

Mr. Prasetyo, who has a 10-hectare farm, has seen his yields rise 60% to 75% by adopting better farming practices through RSPO certification. But he does not receive a better income for the ethical oil he produces.

“I really want to have a premium price but, for now, with the benefits of increased yields we can offset it,” the 49-year-old said on the sidelines of conference.

Becoming RSPO-certified involved organizing a collective, planning fertilizer use, and carrying out tracking and accounting, all of which would not have been possible without the help from a major palm oil company, Mr. Prasetyo said.

“Small farmers really get very little benefit flowing back down to them,” said Grant Rosoman, a forest advisor at Greenpeace International.

Mr. Prasetyo is not alone in missing the premium price benefits RSPO certification is supposed to bring. RSPO-backed palm oil represents about 20% — or 15.4 million tons — of global production, but just 80% of certified oil is sold at a premium, according to the watchdog.

Smaller growers are often reliant on one mill located near their farms, which can impact demand and prices paid for certified fruit bunches, Mr. JD said.

While the RSPO certification scheme is backed by many major European buyers, boosting demand for sustainable palm oil in India, China and Indonesia — where buyers are more price-sensitive — will be important in the years to come.

These Asian markets care about sustainability and are trying to figure out how to build sustainability into their sourcing, said JD.

But without a boost in demand for certified oil from Asian markets, RSPO could lose its relevance, especially as the European Union and the United States increasingly turn to regulation in place of reliance on voluntary standards like RSPO, green groups said.

A new European Union law to curb deforestation, agreed last December and due to take effect within two years, will force global suppliers of commodities such as palm oil, soy and cocoa to prove their supply chains are not fuelling forest destruction.

The RSPO must now “crack the Asian market,” where the majority of palm oil is consumed, said IDH’s Spencer. — Thomson Reuters Foundation

According to memorandum circular (MC) no. 54, signed by Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr., LGUs have been tasked to help farmers with project implementation and finding land.

It added that the DA will fund the construction of biosecure facilities and animal housing, as well as feed and biologics and the procurement of piglets under its Integrated National Swine Production Initiative for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) program.

Qualified beneficiaries without existing facilities can avail of a P10-million funding package for a biosecure facility and 300 piglets, or P5 million for a conventional animal housing and 100 piglets.

“The minimum project package… can be availed of by organized and active (farmer cooperatives and associations or FCAs), and LGUs who desire to undertake modernized swine raising… using the community swine clustering model, “ the DA said.

It added that LGU recipients should not exceed 20% of the total number of targeted beneficiaries per region.

Additionally, MC 54 also allowed Regions 2, 3, 4-A, and 7 the authority to provide budgetary assistance to qualified FCAs.

“Considering the sizeable decrease in the breeder base population (in the regions) and considering (their) proximity to the National Capital Region, it is imperative to restore the region’s flourishing pork production to ensure adequate pork supply,” it said.

The DA earlier projected a 10-day deficit in pork supply due to the increased demand during the end-of-year holidays It is also considering more imports to add to the domestic supply.

The areas targeted for support are being counted on to establish multiplier and production farms aimed at creating “genetically superior gilts and finisher animals.”

Qualified FCAs would need to have vacant farms, a minimum capacity of 300 sows and possess a biosecurity level two rating.

“The recipient shall pay the (DA) the equivalent amount in terms of breeders provided and distributed to other identified FCAs,” it added. — Adrian H. Halili

The move could bolster conservation for Brazil’s Cerrado, the world’s most biodiverse savanna, at least half of which has already been destroyed for agriculture. Farming, forestry and land use account for more than a fifth of planet warming-emissions.

The firms, including Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus Company, agreed that by the end of the decade they will longer buy soy from farms that destroyed any non-forest natural vegetation in the Amazon rainforest, Chaco dry woodlands or the Cerrado, said Petra Tanos of the Tropical Forest Alliance.

The commitment adds to the sector’s pledge last year to eliminate deforestation by 2025.

Tanos said the move is most consequential for the Cerrado, Brazil’s most rapidly expanding agricultural frontier that includes large stretches of grassland. In 2023, Cerrado destruction hit its highest point in eight years.

The Tropical Forest Alliance is a World Economic Forum initiative that works with commodities firms on environmental commitments.

Beyond the United States, the largest soy exporting nations are in South America, where natural vegetation is typically cleared to make way for farms.

In the lead up to United Nations COP28 climate change summit in Dubai, some of the companies announced even more aggressive commitments. Last month, Cargill announced it would eliminate deforestation and land conversion from its supply chains by 2025 in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.

Archer Daniels Midland committed to eliminating land conversion among its direct suppliers by 2025 and indirect suppliers by 2027 across sensitive South American biomes.

But the industry has a history of failing to meet past commitments. In 2010, hundreds of consumer brands pledged to reach “net zero” deforestation by 2020, but failed to meet the goal. — Reuters

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 120.4 points in November, around October’s levels which were the lowest since March 2021.

The November reading marked a 10.7% decline versus last November.

The FAO cereal price index decreased by 3% month on month in November, led by a sharp fall in maize prices, while those of wheat declined by 2.4%.

Vegetable oil prices, however, rose 3.4% from October.

“Palm oil prices rebounded more than 6% in November, chiefly underpinned by more active purchases by leading importing countries and seasonally lower outputs in major producing countries,” the FAO said in a statement.

The agency’s dairy price index rose 2.2% from October, led by high demand for butter and skimmed milk powder in Northeast Asia, and increased pre-holiday demand in Western Europe.

Sugar prices rose 1.4% month on month in November but averaged 41.1% higher than last November thanks to worsening production prospects in Thailand and India.

In a separate report on cereal supply and demand, the FAO raised its forecast for world cereal production this year to a record 2.823 billion metric tons versus 2.819 billion previously — representing a 0.9% increase from 2022.

“Looking ahead to next season, planting of the 2024 winter wheat crop is ongoing in the northern hemisphere and, reflecting lower crop prices, area growth could be limited,” the FAO said.

Nevertheless, the agency sees world cereal stocks up 2.7% by the end of the 2024 season, while the cereal stock-to-use ratio is forecast at 30.8% in 2023/2024, “indicating an overall comfortable supply level.” — Reuters

“Lahat ng mga basic commodities pati sibuyas, asukal, pakialaman nila basta ang importante (Every basic commodity including onion and sugar, they should have a hand in, as long as) at the time there is a shortage, NFA is ready to come in,” PCAFI President Danilo V. Fausto told reporters last week.

Under the Rice Tariffication Law of 2019 (Republic Act No. 11203), importing rice were removed from the NFA’s functions. Private traders were instead allowed to bring in rice shipments while paying a 35% tariff on Southeast Asian grain.

The law also funded the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, to modernize the rice industry.

Mr. Fausto said imports of basic goods must be calibrated to meet demand.

“We (should) only import what is needed and at the right time,” he added.

The government has allocated about P9 billion to the NFA for 2023 and 2024.

“(The budget) could be double, it could be triple, it could be five times (higher) because there should be 60 days minimum (buffer stock),” he added.

The NFA is authorized purchase domestically grown rice and hold it in reserve in the event of shortages or calamities.

He said that the NFA should also work with the private sector and local government units in procuring adequate stocks of rice. — Adrian H. Halili

According to a report by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), the Philippine annual vegetable deficit is about 1.4 million metric tons (MT) in wet weight through at least 2030.

It attributed the deficit to the lack of post-harvest facilities and a decline in available farmland.

“Additionally, the country faces the challenge of approximately 20 typhoons annually, which pose a significant threat to the supply of vegetables,” the USDA said.

The report added that to address the deficit in vegetable supply, imports of processed vegetables “presents a viable solution.”

It said that stakeholders must also focus on reducing the cost of inter-island shipping and enhance the cold chain network.

“These measures will ensure efficient transportation and proper storage of intermediate and prepared processed vegetable products across the Philippine islands,” it said.

Citing government data, the USDA said that Philippines imported 160,000 metric tons (MT) of fresh vegetables and 405,000 MT of processed vegetables in 2022. Such imports have grown 17% and 6%, respectively, over the past 10 years.

“Even if this growth were to be sustained, it would still be inadequate to meet the demand of a rapidly growing population and the government’s goal of promoting greater vegetable consumption,” it added.

Additionally, the USDA said that there is a significant opportunity for the US processed vegetable industry to increase its exports to the Philippines.

“(Processed) vegetables that have the best prospects are the vegetables varieties that are not extensively produced locally…cooking staples like garlic and onions, which are susceptible to price shocks, and those that offer convenience and wellness present excellent opportunities,” it said.

The FAS added that the food service, retail, and processing sectors in the Philippines also show potential for increased take-up of processed vegetables.

US exports to the Philippines include frozen potatoes, potato chips, onion powder, garlic powder, canned pulses, peppers, pickled vegetables, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and prepared mixed vegetables. — Adrian H. Halili

Cattle pasture is the most common initial use for deforested areas in the Amazon and neighboring Cerrado savanna, a practice that faces strict legal limits but continues illegally in Brazil, the world’s biggest beef exporter.

The government of Para state in northern Brazil announced the program at the UN COP28 climate summit, according to The Nature Conservancy, a global conservation advocacy group working on the project.

The state government established the program in a decree published on Monday and sets the target of individual tracking of all 24 million cattle in Para by December 2026.

Cattle ranching in Brazil is linked to nearly 24% of global annual tropical deforestation and approximately 10% of total global greenhouse gas emissions, the conservancy said.

Para has Brazil’s second biggest cattle herd behind the west-central state of Mato Grosso, according to government data. The conservancy said the program will offer incentives for ranchers to join the traceability system to ensure compliance with the new law, without giving details on incentives.

“In a state larger than France, Spain, and Norway combined, with over 24 million cattle on more than 295,000 farms, the program brings a new approach to ensure continued reductions in deforestation and associated greenhouse gas emissions from cattle,” the conservancy said.

The program is part of a drive led by Para Governor Helder Barbalho to bolster the state’s green credentials ahead of hosting the COP30 climate change summit in 2025.

“The Para Cattle Integrity Program, announced at COP28, is a foundational layer for addressing the biggest driver of deforestation and emissions in Brazil,” said Jack Hurd, executive director of the Tropical Forest Alliance, an initiative that works with commodities firms to reduce deforestation.

“The absence of full traceability in Para undermined their ability to attract legitimate investment into this sector.” — Reuters

Factory farming alone is responsible for at least 11% of global emissions, according to research published on Wednesday by World Animal Protection. The charity said around 70% of the 80 billion animals reared every year for food were held in factory farm systems, contributing 6.2 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions annually.

The COP28 presidency of the United Arab Emirates has urged countries to sign a “leaders’ declaration” committing them to align food production with broader emissions goals. It is also spearheading initiatives to promote agricultural innovation.

“What’s very exciting about this COP is that the leaders’ declaration commits countries that sign it to include food systems in their nationally determined contributions and their national adaptation plans,” said David Garrahy, external affairs manager at World Animal Protection.

Food systems as a whole contribute about a third of global greenhouse gas, with animal agriculture responsible for a fifth, he said.

Analyzing more than 400 attribution studies, the charity said factory farming from the global north alone was responsible for around $8 billion in damage caused by recent extreme weather in Asia, Africa and South America.

It called for a 10-year moratorium on new factory farms and urged countries to redirect subsidies to more sustainable livestock and plant-based food production. It also said big industrial farming conglomerates must contribute more to climate loss and damage funds.

COP28 will stage a “Food4Climate” Pavilion as well as a “Food Day” to highlight the role played by food production in global warming, deforestation and habitat destruction.

Mr. Garrahy said some have branded food as a distraction from the key task of tackling fossil fuels, but food systems account for around 15% of global fossil fuel consumption.

“I don’t think you can bring an end to fossil fuels without addressing food systems. We don’t accept that this is a diversion tactic. It is at the heart of the Paris Agreement.” – Reuters

RICE IMPORTS will likely exceed earlier projections in order to build up reserves ahead of the peak of El Niño, analysts said.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco T. Laurel Jr. said last week that he gave rice traders 30 days to import rice or risk the cancellation of their permits.

Economists said El Niño, which is expected to run until early 2024, will dampen farm production, resulting in a need for more imports.

“It will be good to act conservatively when it comes to dealing with a possible rice shortage next year, when the lean season starts and a projected ‘bad’ El Nino is expected to hit food production worldwide,” Calixto V. Chikiamco, Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) president, said in a Viber message.

As of Nov. 16, rice imports have hit 2.94 million metric tons (MT), according to the Bureau of Plant Industry.

The US Department of Agriculture projected earlier that rice imports this year may hit 3.8 million MT.

In response the Philippine Department of Agriculture DA) said that imports of the grain would com in below the USDA’s estimates.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort likewise said that the risk of El Niño on rice production will spur imports up to early 2024.

“As reduced rainfall would reduce rice production and supply, (the gap will be) filled by additional imports,” Mr. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

The DA estimates palay or unmilled rice production of 20 million MT this year, on track to exceed the 19.76 million MT posted in 2022.

The government weather service, known as PAGASA has said that the peak of the dry spell will run until early 2024.

Mr. Laurel said last week that the additional rice imports will be sufficient to carry the grain supply into the next harvest.

Mr. Chikiamco said imports are “the correct policy move. We are seeing rising prices of rice due to lower volumes of imports and the end of the harvest. Secretary Laurel wants an immediate augmentation of supply to arrest the surging prices of rice,” he said.

The price of imported rice was P45 per kilogram for the well-milled variety during the November 20-24 period, according to DA price monitors. The Philippines does not import regular-milled rice.

Mr. Chikiamco said the problem of rising prices is “due to lower volume of imports as traders have hesitated to import due to surging global prices.”

The government had imposed a temporary price cap on regular-milled rice of P41 per kg and on well-milled rice of P45 via Executive Order No. 39. The measure was in force between August and October.

With no end in sight to the war with Russia, access to the Black Sea is critical if Ukraine is to preserve an agricultural industry that was the fourth-largest grain supplier globally before the conflict and in value terms accounted for half of Ukraine’s total exports last year.

While makeshift export routes and abundant supply elsewhere have tamed record global food prices since last year, the strain on Ukrainian agriculture has worsened as a UN-backed export deal collapsed and European Union (EU) neighbors baulked at land shipments.

Agriculture has suffered losses of over $25 billion since the war began, Ukrainian grain trader association UGA estimates.

Ukraine’s grain exports so far in the 2023/24 season that started in July are running 28% below the year-earlier volume, according to agriculture ministry data.

The area planted with corn, its flagship grain export, has shrunk by a quarter since the start of the war and total crop planting could suffer a double-digit decline in 2024, producers say, as cash-strapped farms leave some land idle.

A new Black Sea shipping channel may offer a lifeline, like for Ukraine’s depleted steel industry.“The sea corridor is essential for Ukrainian farming to survive,” Jean-Francois Lepy, head of grain trading at French agribusiness group InVivo, said.

“Without a corridor there is going to be a serious problem in 2024/2025,” he said on the sidelines of this month’s Global Grain conference in Geneva.

The “humanitarian corridor” established by Ukraine’s military in late August has expanded steadily, with Kyiv estimating over 3 million tons of grain shipped so far.

Its future remains clouded by military risks, with several vessels struck by mines or missiles, but Ukrainian producers are encouraged.

“It gives us breakeven because before the ports opened almost everyone was loss-making,” Dmitry Skornyakov, chief executive officer of farm operator HarvEast.

Ukrainian producers see scope to reach 2-2.5 million tons of monthly grain exports through the corridor, which combined with volumes through land routes and transhipment via the Danube river could bring overall trade back towards a pre-war rhythm of 5-6 million tons per month.

Spike Brokers, which tracks exports in Ukraine, said on Nov. 1-17 Ukraine exported 404,000 tons of agricultural goods via the Danube and 352,000 tons from Black Sea ports. An additional 943,000 tons should leave from Black Sea ports and 464,000 tons from the Danube by the month-end.

“The situation in the coming months will be better than in September and October, as large ships are starting to arrive and the number of insurance companies that insure risks is growing,” said Denys Marchuk, deputy head of the Agrarian Council, Ukraine’s largest agribusiness group.

Some in the market are cautious given the still perilous security situation. A Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa on Nov. 21 added to a series of attacks on Ukraine’s Black Sea and Danube grain ports.

Despite expansion at Romania’s Constanta port, trade via the EU remains dogged by logistical bottlenecks and tensions with Kyiv’s neighbors. Border protests by Polish lorry drivers have slowed food exports this month.

The new growing season could be a tipping point.

Winter wheat sowing will be down almost 10% on year, Ukraine’s agriculture ministry estimates, with a dry start to autumn adding to farmers’ problems.

HarvEast plans to leave uncultivated more than 10% of the 34,000 hectares it currently operates as it sacrifices less fertile fields seen as generating more losses, Mr. Skornyakov said, forecasting a general trend of 10-20% of unplanted land next year versus 3-5% this year.

Yuriy Stelmakh, a grower in northern Ukraine, said his farm drilled 30% less area with winter crops due to a lack of funds.

Ukraine’s agri-food industry is trying to adapt. Farmers have planted more oilseed crops like sunflower that can offer better margins, while high world sugar prices and cheap local grain to feed poultry have spurred exports of those products.

But as the war drags on, the sector faces a lack of visibility, labour shortages and structurally low prices, said Roman Gorobets, director of FE ASTRA in central Ukraine.

A huge wheat surplus in Russia and record corn and soybean harvests in Brazil have helped the world adapt to stop-start Ukrainian exports. A trade gap may be felt next year, though, if weather hits Brazilian crops and the Kremlin intervenes further in Russian exports.

Ukraine has sharply reduced exports of farm goods to Asian and African countries this year, according to agricultural business association UCAB.

Major importer Egypt has various supply sources for wheat, but few alternatives to Ukraine for corn and vegetable oil, Hesham Soliman, president of Egyptian merchant Mediterranean Star, said.

Much hangs on the spring planting season and whether Ukrainian growers cut back further on corn, relatively costly to produce.

“I don’t think the world can afford for Ukraine’s agriculture to suffer. We do need them, particularly on the corn side,” said Scott Wellcome, director of grains risk management at GoodMills, Europe’s largest miller. — Reuters

His decision to leave paid off. Pathak’s steady salary from the city job kept his family afloat even as crop yields dropped consistently due to the droughts and floods ravaging his farm.

”It either doesn’t rain or it rains so much that it floods. We get just one yield every year. It wasn’t like this when I was growing up,” Mr. Pathak told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Now he leases his field to villagers who share half of any profit with him.

But he would like to go back to his land if a push towards eco-friendly agriculture helps farmers cope with worsening climate pressures and pays off financially.

Agriculture is India’s biggest employer, supporting the livelihoods of 250 million farmers and informal laborers – but their work is getting harder as climate change makes living off farming difficult, pushing up debt, migration and suicides.

Worries over falling yields have driven up the use of chemical fertilizers that are stripping the soil of nutrients and fuelling agricultural emissions on a warming planet.

In response, green farming projects have taken root in India, where staple crops include rice, wheat, maize, sugarcane, cotton and groundnut.

But experts say the scale and success hinges on how well the approach protects poor farmers’ incomes.

“If you want to sustain agriculture as the biggest employer, and want to bring in sustainable farming, first bring living income to farmers,” said Devinder Sharma, an independent expert on agricultural policy.

“As a nation, we need to move towards agro-ecology but these (sustainable farming projects) will only bring about cosmetic changes until you provide farmers an assured income,” he added.

A government-backed guaranteed price for natural produce, subsidies to cover losses and stronger marketing channels would all help, he said.

Worldwide, rice is a staple food for more than 3 billion people while flooded paddy fields account for 12% of humanity’s methane emissions – equivalent to 1.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions – according to the Asian Development Bank.

Asia-Pacific accounts for the highest emissions from agriculture, partly because of the region’s rising use of synthetic fertilizers in rice cultivation, the bank says.

Farmers’ incomes in India, the second-largest producer of rice globally after China, are wedded to paddy yields. That makes them reluctant to shift away from conventional methods of pumping fertilizers onto fields to raise production.

But farmer Jitendra Singh in northern India has made the switch from high fertilizer use, incentivized by the prospect of extra income from generating carbon credits through lower-emitting methods, which can be traded on international markets.

He no longer transplants paddy seedlings into flooded fields, but directly sows them into the soil. Besides reducing methane emissions, that has cut water use, time needed for sowing and the use of chemical herbicides and fertilizers.

On a rice farm in eastern Odisha state, however, Gurcharan Mahanta seems uninterested in a regional project to promote millet, a long-forgotten crop making a comeback because it is resilient to droughts fuelled by climate change.

Mr. Mahanta, 54, said his high-yielding hybrid rice variety fetched him a good price, which millet would not with a small consumer base. Growing paddy is also less labor-intensive. “I go by the market demand,” he said.

More than 80% of farmers in India own less than five acres – and many keep spending on fertilizers and pesticides, hoping for good yields even though they face a crushing burden of debt.

Nearly 11,000 farmers, cultivators and agricultural laborers took their own lives in 2021, averaging about 30 deaths a day, with bankruptcy the leading cause, according to government data.

In a bid to support these smallholders and make farming more climate-friendly, India is promoting organic and natural farming, encouraging diversification to cut dependence on one major crop and incentivizing solar-powered water pumps for irrigation to reduce the use of fossil fuel power.

At a meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) agriculture ministers this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the disproportionate impact of climate change on agriculture in the Global South and said Indian farmers are taking up natural farming to revive the soil.

“Our policy is a fusion of back to basics and march to the future. We are promoting natural farming as well as technology-enabled farming,” he said in a speech.

Yet agricultural scientists estimate that fewer than 5% of Indian farmers have switched to sustainable farming methods, even though many are aware of the threat of global warming and the rising costs of conventional practices.

“Farmers understand climate change. They worry about rain and droughts. But they will not understand sustainable agriculture until their problems are first understood,” said Vikram Singh, joint secretary of the All India Agricultural Workers’ Union.

Despite the challenges, sustainable farming has brought some success stories, including young people who have given up city careers in tech or pharmaceuticals to return to family farms.

But the wins are patchy — and, in some cases, the eco-friendly switch has added to farmers’ stress. In the southern Indian state of Telangana, for instance, millers are turning away from genetically modified BT cotton in response to rising global demand for sustainable organic cotton.

But organic seeds are rare in India where BT dominates and cotton-processing infrastructure is designed for large volumes.

Addressing issues like these — and ensuring that sustainable methods boost crop yields and incomes — will be key to bringing would-be farmers like Mr. Pathak back to the land they love.

Wrapping up his day driving through the manic Mumbai traffic, Mr. Pathak said he pined for the clean air of his village, his jute bed and the farm-fresh gooseberries he enjoys on his annual vacation back home.

He hopes to return to that traditional rural life if the economics stack up and local markets for naturally grown produce thrive. He suggested farmers could find other income sources too like selling milk to dairies with village networks, helping them earn between harvests and protecting them from climate extremes.

Shiraz Wajih, president of the nonprofit Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group, urged farmers and agricultural scientists to work together to create solutions on the ground.

Local production of inputs for natural farming can cut costs and dependence on outside markets while creating jobs, he said. And fine-tuning farm processes suited to each region’s ecology would boost acceptance of greener methods, he added.

Wajih said most farmers do not want to leave their land, as seen during COVID-19 lockdowns when migrant factory workers returned to their farms to keep them going in tough times.

“People are aware of job options that can pay them better. But land is always the permanent address of farmers,” he said. — Thomson Reuters Foundation

Mr. Pathak, 44, migrated from his village in eastern Bihar state over two decades ago to work in the big city on the other side of the country, hoping to supplement his family’s income reliant on wheat and rice from their 1.5-acre (0.6-hectare) farm.

His decision to leave paid off. Pathak’s steady salary from the city job kept his family afloat even as crop yields dropped consistently due to the droughts and floods ravaging his farm.

“It either doesn’t rain or it rains so much that it floods. We get just one yield every year. It wasn’t like this when I was growing up,” Mr. Pathak told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Now he leases his field to villagers who share half of any profit with him. But he would like to go back to his land if a push towards eco–friendly agriculture helps farmers cope with worsening climate pressures and pays off financially.

Agriculture is India’s biggest employer, supporting the livelihoods of 250 million farmers and informal laborers – but their work is getting harder as climate change makes living off farming difficult, pushing up debt, migration and suicides.

Worries over falling yields have driven up the use of chemical fertilizers that are stripping the soil of nutrients and fueling agricultural emissions on a warming planet.

In response, green farming projects have taken root in India, where staple crops include rice, wheat, maize, sugarcane, cotton and groundnut. But experts say the scale and success hinges on how well the approach protects poor farmers‘ incomes.

“If you want to sustain agriculture as the biggest employer, and want to bring in sustainable farming, first bring living income to farmers,” said Devinder Sharma, an independent expert on agricultural policy.

“As a nation, we need to move towards agro-ecology but these (sustainable farming projects) will only bring about cosmetic changes until you provide farmers an assured income,” he added.

A government-backed guaranteed price for natural produce, subsidies to cover losses and stronger marketing channels would all help, he said.

A TALE OF TWO FARMERS

Worldwide, rice is a staple food for more than 3 billion people while flooded paddy fields account for 12% of humanity’s methane emissions – equivalent to 1.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions – according to the Asian Development Bank.

Asia-Pacific accounts for the highest emissions from agriculture, partly because of the region’s rising use of synthetic fertilizers in rice cultivation, the bank says.

Farmers‘ incomes in India, the second-largest producer of rice globally after China, are wedded to paddy yields. That makes them reluctant to shift away from conventional methods of pumping fertilizers onto fields to raise production.

But farmer Jitendra Singh in northern India has made the switch from high fertilizer use, incentivized by the prospect of extra income from generating carbon credits through lower-emitting methods, which can be traded on international markets.

He no longer transplants paddy seedlings into flooded fields, but directly sows them into the soil. Besides reducing methane emissions, that has cut water use, time needed for sowing and the use of chemical herbicides and fertilizers.

On a rice farm in eastern Odisha state, however, Gurcharan Mahanta seems uninterested in a regional project to promote millet, a long-forgotten crop making a comeback because it is resilient to droughts fueled by climate change.

Mr. Mahanta, 54, said his high-yielding hybrid rice variety fetched him a good price, which millet would not with a small consumer base. Growing paddy is also less labour-intensive.

“I go by the market demand,” he said.

FINANCIAL PROBLEMS CURB GREEN SHIFT

More than 80% of farmers in India own less than five acres – and many keep spending on fertilizers and pesticides, hoping for good yields even though they face a crushing burden of debt.

Nearly 11,000 farmers, cultivators and agricultural laborers took their own lives in 2021, averaging about 30 deaths a day, with bankruptcy the leading cause, according to government data.

In a bid to support these smallholders and make farming more climate-friendly, India is promoting organic and natural farming, encouraging diversification to cut dependence on one major crop and incentivizing solar-powered water pumps for irrigation to reduce the use of fossil fuel power.

At a meeting of G20 agriculture ministers this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the disproportionate impact of climate change on agriculture in the Global South and said Indian farmers are taking up natural farming to revive the soil.

“Our policy is a fusion of back to basics and march to the future. We are promoting natural farming as well as technology-enabled farming,” he said in a speech.

Yet agricultural scientists estimate that fewer than 5% of Indian farmers have switched to sustainable farming methods, even though many are aware of the threat of global warming and the rising costs of conventional practices.

“Farmers understand climate change. They worry about rain and droughts. But they will not understand sustainable agriculture until their problems are first understood,” said Vikram Singh, joint secretary of the All India Agricultural Workers’ Union.

TRADITIONAL TIES TO THE LAND

Despite the challenges, sustainable farming has brought some success stories, including young people who have given up city careers in tech or pharmaceuticals to return to family farms.

But the wins are patchy – and, in some cases, the eco–friendly switch has added to farmers‘ stress.

In the southern Indian state of Telangana, for instance, millers are turning away from genetically modified BT cotton in response to rising global demand for sustainable organic cotton.

But organic seeds are rare in India where BT dominates and cotton-processing infrastructure is designed for large volumes.

Addressing issues like these – and ensuring that sustainable methods boost crop yields and incomes – will be key to bringing would-be farmers like Pathak back to the land they love.

Wrapping up his day driving through the manic Mumbai traffic, Pathak said he pined for the clean air of his village, his jute bed and the farm-fresh gooseberries he enjoys on his annual vacation back home.

He hopes to return to that traditional rural life if the economics stack up and local markets for naturally grown produce thrive.

He suggested farmers could find other income sources too like selling milk to dairies with village networks, helping them earn between harvests and protecting them from climate extremes.

Shiraz Wajih, president of the nonprofit Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group, urged farmers and agricultural scientists to work together to create solutions on the ground.

Local production of inputs for natural farming can cut costs and dependence on outside markets while creating jobs, he said. And fine-tuning farm processes suited to each region’s ecology would boost acceptance of greener methods, he added.

Mr. Wajih said most farmers do not want to leave their land, as seen during COVID-19 lockdowns when migrant factory workers returned to their farms to keep them going in tough times.

“People are aware of job options that can pay them better. But land is always the permanent address of farmers,” he said. – Reuters

TikTok, developed by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., will conduct training with the Department of Trade and Industry and “possibly” the Department of Agriculture “for small business owners and farmers on how to use TikTok and other platforms to promote their products,” Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said in a Viber message on Saturday.

The partnership was discussed during President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s meeting with TikTok, Inc. CEO Shou Zi Chew at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco. 

“We want to give more resources and highlight and train the local sellers in the more rural parts of the country because that’s one thing interesting on the platform,” Mr. Chew told Mr. Marcos.

“What we want to do is highlight local products, especially from smaller (sellers),” he added.

Mr. Chew said TikTok has provided sellers in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia “a platform to sell around the country and export around the world.”

“That’s the plan (for the Philippines),” he said.

Amid growing cybersecurity concerns, many governments have banned TikTok from devices issued to public sector employees. 

In September, the Philippine National Security Council (NSC) said it was studying the possibility of imposing a ban on TikTok for government employees involved in national security.

“We know for a fact that there are information operations and psychological warfare and other stuff being done,” NSC Assistant Director Jonathan Malaya said at the time. “If there is a need for banning, it would not be for public school teachers, it would not be for those in the civilian, it would be for the security sector.”

TikTok was introduced to the Philippines in May 2017. In April last year, the video platform launched its online market, TikTok Shop, in the Philippines.

“TikTok sees Southeast Asia as its biggest emerging market outside the US, with its 325 million monthly active users covering nearly half the region’s population,” the Palace said.

TikTok Shop generated gross merchandise value in Southeast Asia of $4.4 billion in 2022. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

The proposal, already approved by the Senate, passed by 159 votes in favor to 53 against, prohibiting the use, sale, import and export of food and feed “from cell cultures or tissue derived from vertebrate animals.”

Factories breaching such rules can be subject to fines of up to 150,000 euros and risk being shut down, while owners may lose their right to obtain public funding for up to three years.

The proposal of Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, a close aide of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, is seen as part of a broader bid by the rightist coalition to safeguard tradition.

As the debate in parliament was under way, tensions erupted between demonstrators from agricultural lobby group Coldiretti and two opposition lawmakers, one of whom claimed the president of the lobby group, Ettore Prandini, had assaulted him.

“I believe it is subversive that the president of Coldiretti believes he can assault a lawmaker,” lawmaker Benedetto Della Vedova said, adding he would report Mr. Prandini to police.

Mr. Della Vedova appeared to have been pushed in the chest in the incident but was not hurt.

Mr. Prandini told Reuters the lawmakers had provoked the farmers with offensive banners, and played down the confrontation.

The +Europa party and other opposition groups depicted the right-wing’s administration move as an attempt to please farmers and breeders’ lobbies, as lab-grown food is not yet available in the European Union (EU).

Critics of the bill say producing meat without breeding animals would limit greenhouse gas emissions and provide an option for consumers who would appreciate eating a product that does not involve slaughter.

The opposition warned the government risked breaching EU single market rules by unilaterally banning the product in case the bloc ever decided to make lab food available.

Minister Lollobrigida reiterated the ban was needed to protect the food industry. — Reuters

Negotiations continued over the coalition’s draft budget to be reviewed in the German parliament.

The budget will be passed at the start of December to take effect from the start of 2024.

The newspaper Bild initially reported that the coalition would not extend the reduction in VAT. The coalition government will also row back on planned cuts to parental allowance for higher earners, Social Democrat MP Felix Doring said.

The cabinet had approved a draft budget in July to halve the income limit for couples eligible to receive parental leave compensation to 150,000 euros, from 300,000 euros previously.

However, in negotiations, the government agreed the limit would instead fall to 200,000 euros from April 1, 2024, and to 175,000 euros from April 1, 2025. — Reuters

Now 48, Mr. Adachi still cares deeply for his birds, drawing them out of their baskets each morning and stroking their long necks to confirm their health and maintain a bond.

“For me, cormorants are my partners,” he said.

Mr. Adachi is the 18th generation of his family to be a master cormorant fishermen, and one of about 50 people in Japan carrying on the 1,300-year tradition of using trained birds to dive for fish. It is considered the ideal way to catch the sweet ayu river fish, and his family has a hereditary mandate to supply the delicacy to the Japanese imperial household.

The method, known as ukai, was once common in Japan and a version of it has also been practiced in China. But today it is largely supported by tourists, who watch the fishermen and their birds bringing in the catch.

Now, environmental changes are making the fish ever more scarce and small, endangering the lifeline of the fisherman, known as usho, and their flocks.

“I go to the river every day so I can feel the changes,” Mr. Adachi said, drawing upon nearly four decades of working on the Nagara River in Oze, a town in central Gifu Prefecture.

Come sundown between May and October, he boards a boat along with an assistant, a steersman, and about 10 cormorants leashed at the neck and body. A basket of flames swings out over the dark river, waking the ayu from resting spots among the stones below. The cormorants catch them as they dart away, but the leash keeps the larger fish from going down the birds’ gullets.

The birds are coaxed to release the fish into a bucket. And from a nearby observation boat, tourists take in the spectacle of splashing feathers and dancing fire.

As is common these days, the haul is tiny. Guests at a traditional ryokan inn run by the Adachi family are fed salted, grilled ayu, but it is supplied by a local fish monger.

Mr. Adachi ascribes the dearth of fish to the weather, which he says has become more unpredictable, with heavier rains and flooding on the once calm river. And construction of flood barriers has led to smaller rocks and sand filling the river bottom, obstructing the larger rocks that form the ayu’s habitat.

“In the past, there were only big boulders, but now they’re small,” he said. “The sand and gravel has increased, and along with that the ayu have gotten smaller too.”

Environmental studies have confirmed his concerns. Temperatures in the Nagara River have risen to a high of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), delaying the spawning period of the ayu by a month, said Gifu University associate professor Morihiro Harada.

The fish like to eat algae that grow on large stones, Harada said, but those rocks have become less common after repeated anti-flooding works carried out by river management authorities.

Down river from Oze, the usho of Gifu City have a larger, more tourism-oriented operation. Fleets of boats allow visitors to eat and drink as they watch the fishermen and birds.

The same environmental shifts also affect this business, with rough waters sometimes pushing the tourist boats off course or leading to cancellations.

To contend with growing number of lost business days, an economic development body known as ORGAN set up an elevated riverside viewing deck on a trial basis, attempting to recreate the boat experience in evenings hosted by apprentice geishas and other traditional performers.

“We wanted to offer a more refined, higher-quality experience,” said ORGAN leader Yusuke Kaba.

Facing an uncertain future, Mr. Adachi can only honor the past and tend to the present. In his home, he prays before shrines dedicated to his usho ancestors. And in the yard, he tends to his 16 birds, one by one.

His son Toichiro helps out on the boat and is training to become the next master fisherman.

Mr. Toichiro wants to carry on the tradition. But for now, the 22-year old spends his days working with a computer at a maker of high-precision machine tools, the type of industry that transformed Japan’s economy and society in the post-war period.

“I want my son to inherit my job, but it’s tough to make a living,” Mr. Adachi said. “If we cannot catch fish anymore, our motivation is gone and there’s no meaning in what we do.” – Reuters

JOLLIBEE Foods Corp. (JFC) is pushing to expand sourcing from smallholder farmers via partnership programs, its social responsibility arm said.

“Right now, we are planning to reach more smallholder farmers,” Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) Senior Program Officer Jan Paolo Vicente said over the weekend.

“The company’s directive is to increase the amount of produce that we get from them,” Mr. Vicente added.

JGF has signed up 25 farmers’ groups to its Farmer Entrepreneurship Program. The partners have delivered more than 10,000 metric tons of crops to JFC commissaries for processing.

He said that this year, the foundation has partnered with five groups to deliver crops to Jollibee commissaries.

The company seeks out clusters of 10 to 15 farmers to partner with.

One of JGF’s partners in Galimuyod, Ilocos Sur — Sacred Heart Savings Cooperative (SHSC) — aims to deliver 160 metric tons of white onions for the 2024 cropping season.

Business Development Center Head for SHSC Stephanie Labcaen told reporters that the group delivers about seven to 10 tons of onion per week.

Ms. Labcaen added that onions delivered to the Jollibee commissary in Calamba, Laguna are subjected to quality control tests.

The group’s Consultancy and Marketing Specialist Mario Collado said purchasers have adjusted the farmers’ onion quota to about 2,000 kilos from the 2,500 kilos originally, in anticipation of the effects of El Niño.

The government weather service projects the peak of the El Niño at late 2023 and early 2024.

“Cropping season (for onions) is usually from October to March,” Mr. Collado added. “But if farmers want to plant in the off-season, they can sell their product in local markets.”

About 80% of crops harvested go to company commissaries, while the remaining off-sized produce are sold locally.

“We have not posted a specific figure or the numerical value for each market, but given the fact that the Philippines has a greater share of dairy exports than Malaysia, we can see that the majority or the greater part of that (growth) will come from the Philippines,” Jim O’Toole, chief executive officer of Bord Bia, said at a briefing on Thursday.

Bord Bia is also undertaking a 3.2 million-euro promotional campaign in the two ASEAN markets.

It will also seek to bring in buyers from the two countries as well as Japan, Vietnam and Thailand to visit Irish dairy farms and processors.

Bord Bia will also host two dairy technical seminars in Malaysia and the Philippines.

The Bord Bia campaign is co-funded by the European Union, which aims to raise awareness of European dairy products and increase dairy exports to Southeast Asia.

In 2022, Ireland’s dairy exports to the Philippines amounted to 72 million euros, up 107%.

Irish beef exports grew 91.4% to 49 million euros in 2022, while pork exports rose 71.4% to 24 million euros.

Ireland’s other exports also grew last year with beverages surging 215% to 1.5 million euros in 2022.

Meanwhile, Martin Heydon, Irish Agriculture, Food and the Marine minister, said Ireland can play a role in helping the Philippines achieve food security.

“We have developed our agriculture system really significantly… over the last 50 or 60 years, and we have done that through research, science and innovation. We have learned a lot from that experience that we believe that we can share,” Mr. Heydon said.

“And we are going to engage further to see how some of those learnings can be shared for the benefit of the Philippines,” he added.

On Nov. 7, Bord Bia visited the Philippines on a fifth trade mission to Southeast Asia.

The Irish ministerial delegation brought in 12 companies from Ireland, while other Irish companies were represented by traders based in the Philippines.

During the trade mission, Irish dairy processors Tirlan and Lakeland Diaries signed agreements with distributors in Manila to supply Irish cream and butter. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

More than 100 towns are on red alert, and some 200 schools in the region have been shut. Rescue workers have also had to evacuate cattle.

“It’s catastrophic,” said 32-year-old farmer Gaetan Guche, whose poultry farm has been flooded, with up to 60 centimeters of water at times over the past five days.

Some chickens have been killed by the water, and he is worried about the others, fearing the spread of disease amid the humidity.

“We have to wait for the water to go down before we can see the whole damage. But I’ve had losses in chickens, financial losses in terms of seeds and equipment, and so today, it’s really hard.”

Nearby, strawberry farmer Jean-Loup Mionnet, whose fields are partly submerged in water, said next spring’s harvest was compromised, fearing he will have few to no strawberries.

“We’ve never seen anything like that,” said campsite owner Jean-Marc Joyez in the village of Enquin-sur-Baillons, where many houses are flooded and roads submerged.

Environment Minister Christophe Bechu said dozens of towns would be considered in a situation of natural disaster, which makes it easier for those whose homes or businesses were flooded to benefit from insurance coverage. — Reuters

THE recently appointed Secretary of Agriculture’s industry background indicates that he will be mainly concerned with production growth, but analysts warned that he also needs to keep an eye on farming sustainability.

“(His) commercial fishing background grounds him in the private sector which is helpful. Hopefully he can strike balance between growth and sustainability for agriculture and fisheries,” Roehlano M. Briones, a senior research fellow with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said in a Viber message.

On Friday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. appointed former Frabelle Fishing Corp. President Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. as the new Secretary of Agriculture.

He had been the president of his family’s fishing company since 1985.

“It’s a good move that (Mr. Marcos) finally appointed a full-time agriculture secretary…I don’t believe his background in commercial fishing will be a handicap in performing his duties,” Calixto V. Chikiamco, Foundation for Economic Freedom president, said in a Viber message.

“His group of companies is also into food processing. Besides, he can draw on experts in agriculture to guide him. As a former business executive, he will be focused on execution and performance,” Mr. Chikiamco added.

Mr. Laurel is expected to prioritize “corporate” and “capital intensive” farming, Bienvenido Oplas, Jr., president of Minimal Government Thinkers, said in a Viber message.

“We need more output, more harvest per hectare of agricultural land and aquaculture,” he said. “Small-scale farming may still be allowed in non-contiguous land separated by hills, residential areas, uplands.”

With regard to food import policy, Geny F. Lapina, an agricultural economist at the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, said: “Let us see if this will mean a more liberalized policy that makes use of trade to help boost the overall food supply or a more protectionist stance that favors local production but not necessarily lower prices of food.”

Mr. Lapina said in an e-mail that most other countries “seem to be moving toward nationalist and protectionist policies.”

“However, the trade-off is that it will be hard to get lower prices of food in the short term if a more protectionist position is taken,” he said. “Not unless the government subsidizes a lot which our finance and economic managers will try to temper given our government’s fiscal stance right now.”

Roy S. Kempis, director of the Center for Business Innovation, said the appointment of a full-time Agriculture Secretary was “administratively and strategically” long overdue.

He noted “the enormity of problems within the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the challenges to Philippine agriculture from factors that are in nature, both domestic and international.”

In July 2022, Mr. Marcos assumed the role of Agriculture Secretary, citing the need to boost food security and keep prices under control.

Mr. Marcos ordered price controls on rice on Sept. 5 which capped regular-milled rice at P41 per kilogram and well-milled rice at P45. The controls were lifted on Oct. 5.

“To tame agriculture and food prices, more production and supply are necessary. The government can enter into marketing agreements with farmers and farm entrepreneurs, ensuring a market for their produce at decent farmgate prices,” Mr. Kempis said.

Ateneo de Manila economics professor Leonardo A. Lanzona said that although Mr. Laurel has experience in distribution due to his background in commercial fishing, it may not be enough to stem the industry’s problems.

“We badly need someone who can produce output by exploiting scale economies to the extent allowed by technology,” he added.

Mr. Lanzona said that someone with a solid background in civil society organizations would be better suited for the post.

“We would prefer someone… who can work out contracts between small landholders and conglomerates without abusing the rights of the small farmers,” he added.

Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food, Inc. President Danilo V. Fausto added in a Viber message: “While rice is a primordial concern, producing food that comprise a balance diet and proper nutrition at affordable prices should be the primary concern of an agriculture secretary.”

Mr. Laurel said in a speech at his appointment that one of his main goals was to ensure adequate harvests to ensure affordable food.

Mr. Laurel previously held roles at Markham Resources Corp., Bacoor Seafront Development Corp., and Diamond Export Corp. as president.

He was also the chairman of Westpac Meat Processing Corp., Bukidnon Hydro Energy Corp., and Diamond Export Corp.

His corporate background led the Palace to issue a statement that Mr. Laurel had resigned from all his private-sector positions.

“By appointing a businessman, in this case a fishing tycoon, business interests will be prioritized over fisherfolk and farmers who have long been neglected,” Maria Ela Atienza, who teaches political science at the University of the Philippines, said in a Viber message.

“The spoils system, patronage politics and big business have triumphed once again in this latest appointment at the expense of the people.”

“There is a need to increase investment to enhance the country’s resilience and promote a more inclusive and sustainable future for agriculture,” FAO Country Representative to the Philippines Lionel Henri Valentin Dabbadie said in a statement, citing the damage inflicted by Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) in 2013.

The typhoon on Nov. 8 of that year, affecting 44 provinces across five regions. Total damage was estimated at P95.5 billion.

Mr. Dabbadie added that the Philippines needs to take an anticipatory action (AA) approach and provide readily available support to poor and vulnerable farmers and fisherfolk “ahead of forecast shocks.”

“Anticipatory Action means acting ahead of predicted hazards to prevent or reduce acute humanitarian impacts before they fully unfold, with a window of opportunity set between an early warning trigger and when the actual impact of the hazard is felt on lives and livelihoods,” the FAO said.

In a report, the FAO said AA could be cost-effective by mitigating the impact of disasters.

“An estimated $3.8 trillion worth of crops and livestock production has been lost due to disasters over the last three decades, equivalent to an average loss of $123 billion annually, or 5% of annual global agricultural GDP,” it said.

It had reported that about $23 billion in damage had been inflicted by typhoons and other disasters in the past 30 years.

The FAO said it has been working with humanitarian and development partners to pilot the AA approach with local government units.

It added that the organization has been conducting simulations in disaster-prone regions of the Philippines since 2021, most recently operating in low-lying barangays of Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte and Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.

The simulations tested government protocols, communications flow, and coordination in the delivery of flexible interventions such as multipurpose cash assistance.

“Interventions such as provision of cash aid are critical in purchasing food and other basic commodities before an evacuation to address food insecurity, while the early evacuation of boats, livestock and other assets protect agricultural livelihoods,” Mr. Dabaddie said.

European Union (EU) Programme Officer Arlynn Aquino said that the EU has “stepped up its support” to help mitigate the impacts of disasters on at-risk populations.

“Haiyan has taught us that partnerships with governments at all levels and local communities are critical, so we can optimize existing social protection programs and systems to reach more vulnerable populations with timely interventions,” Ms. Aquino said. “Especially in Mindanao which continues to suffer from socio-political hazards and armed conflict.” — Adrian H. Halili

Agriculture Undersecretary for Livestock Deogracias Victor B. Savellano said at a briefing, “We are looking at the use of seaweed as feed for our livestock to relieve animal raisers from the high cost of commercial feed.”

Mr. Savellano, also the DA official overseeing the National Tobacco Administration (NTA), and alternate chairperson–designate to the NTA Governing Board, said seaweed is abundant, low-cost, and protein-rich.

“We are tapping the expertise of Lionel Henri Valentin Dabbadie, the country representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, in exploring the production of seaweed as commercial feed for farm animals.”

Seaweed contains antioxidants which can increase animal longevity and may lower the risk of infections. In poultry, it holds the potential to boost immunity and decrease microbial loads in digestive tracts. — Artemio A. Dumlao

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has resigned from his additional role as Agriculture secretary and named a fishing tycoon to take over during a time of high food prices.

In a press conference on Friday, Mr. Marcos announced the appointment of Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr., president of Frabelle Fishing Corp., as the new secretary of the Department of Agriculture, with the responsibility to “gain control” of the prices of agricultural goods.

Mr. Laurel, 56, will also prioritize efforts to make the agriculture sector resilient in the face of climate change and rise of animal diseases such as swine and avian flues, the President said.

He will work on government efforts to reduce production costs and modernize the agriculture sector, Mr. Marcos added.

He said the new Agriculture leadership will study the agricultural practices of the Philippines’ neighbors such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

In 1985, Mr. Laurel, at the age of 28, took on the role of president at Frabelle Fishing Corp., a company established in 1966 that was then a modest-sized trawling enterprise.

VARIOUS ROLES

Mr. Laurel also has important roles in several companies. He is the president of Frabelle Shipyard Corp., chairman of Westpac Meat Processing Corp., director of Frabelle Properties Corp., president of Markham Resources Corp., and both chairman and president of Diamond Export Corp.

At the same time, he is the president of Bacoor Seafront Corp. and chairman of the Bukidnon Hydro Energy Corp.

Mr. Laurel, a member of Mr. Marcos’ Private Sector Advisory Council, currently chairs the World Tuna Purse Seine Organization.

Some stakeholders in the agriculture industry have welcomed the new appointment but warned of the big challenges facing the sector.

Jayson H. Cainglet, executive director of SINAG, urged Mr. Laurel to prioritize local producers over foreign players.

“Importation [should only be the] last resort and not the principal policy,” he said in a statement, asking the new agriculture leadership to “reject, much more to support, all proposals to reduce tariffs on all agricultural commodities.”

“Qualifications or merits are not guarantees of good performance,” he said. “Our judgment will rest on his performance as DA secretary.”

Fisherfolk group Pamalakaya said Mr. Laurel should also prioritize reforms for the fisheries sector, which it said needs to be strengthened in the face of rising imports.

“The fishers are giving a standing order to the new DA Secretary to strengthen local food production by renouncing liberalization policies of importation of agricultural and fisheries products,” it said, noting that it has monitored more than 200, 000 metric tons of various pelagic fishes imported from other countries like China and Taiwan from from 2018 to 2022.

“This is an insult not only to us being an archipelagic country but also to millions of Filipinos involved in the fishing sector.”

The DA Secretary should know that opening floodgates for imported fishery products poses drastic impacts on the livelihood of local fisherfolk. Cheap and inferior quality imported fish causes further price drop of local fishery products. For instance,

Every time the Philippine government allows the importation of tens of thousands of metric tons of round scad (galunggong), the farm-gate value of the fish product drops to as low as P50 from P70-P80 per kilogram, posing “drastic threats” to the livelihood of Filipino fishermen.

“Cheap and inferior quality imported fish causes further price drop of local fishery products.”

The group also urged the new leadership to ensure that Filipino fisherfolk are able to fully utilize the country’s marine and aquatic resources within its territorial and traditional fishing grounds.

Mr. Laurel should also prohibit “all forms of conversion and reclamation of coastal communities and fishing grounds that cause displacement of fisherfolk and irreversible destruction of marine and aquatic resources.”

The Meat Importers and Traders Association said Mr. Laurel brings with him a wealth of “experience and understanding covering the livestock and fisheries sectors,” as it looks forward to working with the new secretary.

Geny F. Lapina, a professor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños’ Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, noted that the President was clear from the start about his intention to eventually appoint a secretary for the DA.

“I think it would have been unsustainable for him to continue holding that position. Therefore, it is good he is finally letting someone else take over,” he said in an email.

Mr. Lapina said that while many sectors, especially those in the private sector,  are expected to throw their support behind the new Agriculture leadership with the expectation that Mr. Laurel might have a better grasp of how to modernize the local agriculture sector and enable it to compete better in the global market, “others would be concerned with conflicts of interest since he may have difficulty balancing the private interests of his company with those of the public interest.”

“His company might have an advantage on policies that might be pursued,” he said. “Regardless, the new DA Secretary will be expected to pursue policies that help bring down the prices of food.”

‘TOUGH ASSIGNMENT’

He said the appointment will be a tough assignment given the local and global challenges hounding the agriculture and food sector.

“Let us see if this will mean a more liberalized policy that makes use of trade to help boost the overall food supply or a more protectionist stance that favors local production but not necessarily lower prices of food,” he said.

Citing Mr. Laurel’s strong industry experience, agriculture expert Roy S. Kempis said one could surmise that he possesses a set of behaviors “toward more production, productivity, and profitability in an industry ecosystem that demands logistics efficiency and effectivity — knowing that fish is highly perishable.”

“We know that the fishing industry, while important to our food needs, has not received the attention of the degree similar to crops like rice, livestock like pork, poultry like chicken and eggs,” he said in a Viber message. “And yet fish in the countryside serves as an affordable source of protein especially along and nearby coastal areas.”

Mr. Marcos took charge of the Agriculture department in July last year, promising to boost the country’s food security amid rising prices spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Over a year has passed, and the country is still facing increasing prices, with rice inflation hitting a 14-year high last month.

Mr. Marcos enforced a rice price ceiling on Sept. 5, limiting the commodity’s price to P41 a kilo for regular milled rice and P45 for well-milled rice.

The ceiling was lifted on Oct. 4, and critics have said it did not help bring down prices.

Philippine inflation rose to 6.1% in September from 5.3% in August amid a double-digit increase in rice prices.

Soaring commodity prices have weakened public support for the administration, with Mr. Marcos facing a double-digit decline in his approval and trust ratings in a recent Pulse Asia Research, Inc. survey, according to experts.

The President’s trust rating fell by three points to 73% in the third quarter from a quarter earlier, the Octa Research Group said on Monday. His approval rating also declined by 6 points to 65%.

Lower sugar production could lead the world’s second-largest producer of sweetener to refrain from allocating export quotas and support global prices SBc1, LSUc1 that are trading near multi-year highs.

“Sugar production for 2023/24 without considering diversion towards ethanol has been estimated at around 33.7 million tons, against 36.6 tons estimated for 2022/23,” the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement.

In August, ISMA had forecast sugar production of 36.2 million tons in the current season.

The trade body did not provide an estimate for net sugar production after the diversion of sucrose for ethanol production, but it stated that the output would exceed the country’s annual consumption of 27.85 million tons.

The diversion of sugar towards ethanol will be estimated only after the government declares the annual ethanol procurement price, the ISMA said.

Sugar mills diverted 4.1 million tons of sugar for ethanol production in the last marketing year and the similar allocation could bring down the new season’s output to 29.6 million tons, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.

“The impact of the dry weather in Maharashtra and Karnataka is quite evident now. There won’t be enough surplus for exports, and the government is unlikely to allocate export quotas,” the dealer said.

Government sources told Reuters in August that the South Asian country would ban mills from exporting sugar in the season beginning in October, halting shipments for the first time in seven years, as a lack of rain had cut cane yields.

In the last season that ended on Sept. 30, India allowed mills to export only 6.2 million metric tons of sugar, after permitting them to sell a record 11.1 million tonnes in 2021/22. – Reuters

Projects can be made climate-smart “by increasing water productivity in national irrigation systems while reducing carbon emissions in irrigated rice cultivation,” the NIA said in a statement.

It added that the “climate smart” project is aimed at promoting broad adoption of alternative wetting and drying technologies in irrigated areas.

The projects will offer financial incentives and capacity-building activities to partner farmers.

The NIA said the initiative will be carried out via a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ostrom Climate Solutions, Inc.

It added that the Climate-Smart Rice Project in Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems will be active in the area until 2028.

The project’s goal is to contribute to the achievement of rice security and resiliency, it said.

The company will also manage all project fund releases in accordance with government accounting and auditing rules.

“Ostrom Climate shall provide funds for the implementation of the project, thus incurring no cost to NIA,” it added.

“With the signing of the MoU between NIA and Ostrom Climate, NIA looks forward to the realization of its vision of making the Philippines a climate-smart and climate change-resilient nation,” it said.

Ostrom Climate is a Vancouver-based company providing carbon management solutions. — Adrian H. Halili

In nearby fields, where cotton is being grown without the protective blanket, the plants wilt and wither under the sun.

“Healthier soil means healthier cotton,” said Basak Erdem, the farm manager of cotton fields owned and run by cotton manufacturer SOKTAS, which is based in Soke municipality, Aydin province.

Four years since SOKTAS first converted one hectare (2.47 acres) of land for regenerative farming — using nature-based methods to restore the land and improve its carbon storage capacity — the soil absorbs more than 18 tons of carbon per hectare a year.

That is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of about 15 gasoline-powered cars, according to a calculator from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

“Every year, we see the results improve,” Erdem told the Thomson Reuters Foundation during a tour of the company’s fields.

SOKTAS was first introduced to regenerative agriculture in 2018 by the Stella McCartney label, which buys from the company, and now has 90 hectares (222 acres) of regenerative land.

Notorious for its intense use of natural resources and high waste output, the fashion industry has stepped up efforts in recent years to reduce its environmental impact and carbon footprint, with the UN’s Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action setting an industry-wide target to decarbonize by 2050.

While efforts have focused on reducing waste, brands and designers are increasingly endorsing projects in regenerative agriculture to help reduce the emissions produced in the manufacture of classic textiles, such as cotton and wool.

A pilot regenerative cotton project in Turkey, set up by international conservation group WWF, found that up to 15 times more carbon was stored in the soil compared to carbon sequestration in general.

“The soil becomes more spongy and lively,” said Gokce Okulu, cotton manager at Textile Exchange, a nonprofit working with the fashion and textile industries to help reduce the environmental impact of materials.

Carbon-absorbing organic matter is killed in conventional farming by over-plowing the earth, she added.

Regenerative farming uses little to no tilling of the soil to help maintain its biological make-up, in addition to growing a cover crop to shield the ground, said Ms. Okulu.

Thanks to the cover crop of wheat, beans and sugar beet at SOKTAS fields, the soil’s organic matter content has doubled in four years, and each year the cotton needs less fertilizer and water, said Erdem.

According to the Confederation of British Industry, demand for cotton produced sustainably, which accounted for nearly 20% of the global cotton supply in 2020, is increasing.

The largest sustainable cotton initiatives are Better Cotton, Fairtrade, and Organic, but Jules Lennon, fashion lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said interest in regenerative cotton is growing, with leading denim producers Bossa and DNM among brands initiating partnerships.

“We’ve seen an absolute hub of activity that we’ve never seen before,” Lennon said. “But first, we really need to prioritize keeping existing products in use,” said Lennon, explaining that to transition to a circular economy, the industry needs to reduce the need for virgin materials by prioritizing recycling and reuse.

“Whatever (needs) remain, we want to come from regenerative sources,” said Lennon.

The European Commission wants all planned regulations requiring fashion companies to produce clothes in a more sustainable way to be in place by 2028.

There are currently 16 pieces of legislation in the works, which could set minimum standards of durability and recyclability for any product entering the EU and require fashion companies to collect textile waste.

“Given the significance of the EU as a market, this could mean a big push to change overall sourcing practices,” said Anita Chester, head of fashion at the Laudes Foundation, a philanthropic organization that helps fund the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s coverage of the green transition.

Little action has been taken to legislate on regenerative farming as it is still in the early stages of adoption, but some existing policies, such as the EU’s proposed Soil Health Law would help to support the transition, added Ms. Chester.

Standards and certifications are starting to emerge, such as from the Regenerative Organic Alliance or regenagri, but brands and designers must invest in farmers to help them transition to regenerative agriculture, said Ms. Chester.

“Nothing can be regenerative if it’s not just. You have to build community resilience by rewarding the farmers for their stewardship of nature and the services they provide in helping us combat climate change,” said Ms. Chester.

Zeynep Kayhan, a board member at SOKTAS, said it is hard to convince some brands to switch to regenerative cotton because it is more expensive.

In addition to the extra costs of soil tests, certification and investing in no-till machinery, regenerative farms initially lose profit on lower yields — before the soil has improved — and swapping a secondary farmable crop in the winter for a cover crop that is not harvested, said Kayhan.

“It’s more expensive to do the transition, but in time because you need less inputs, there will come a point when it will level off,” said Kayhan.

Improving soil health also helps to stave off the impacts of climate change that are hitting the cotton sector.

Research by WTW insurers shows that half of all cotton-growing regions will be at increased threat from climate risks, such as water stress and extreme weather, by 2040.

“Water retention becomes even more important going forward because you need less water if you know the soil can keep its water and nutrients,” said Kayhan.

In the spring, heavy rains damaged cotton seeds at SOKTAS, but the healthier soil in the regenerative plots helped the farmers to replant the seeds quickly, said Erdem.

“If all farmers did regenerative farming, then the climate could change,” said Erdem. — Thomson Reuters Foundation

Most emissions do not come directly from food production, but deforestation to convert native vegetation into farms and pastures is the main source of carbon released from Brazil into the atmosphere, the group found.

“This report should be read by agribusiness representatives and the government as a wake-up call,” said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory.

“It demonstrates, beyond any doubt, that agribusiness will determine whether Brazil is a climate hero or villain.”

Of the 1.8 billion tons of greenhouse gases emitted from Brazil in 2021 to make food, nearly 78% was associated with beef production, including emissions linked with deforestation for livestock farming and pollution from beef packing plants, the study found. 

Abiec, a lobby group of large beef producers in Brazil, did not have an immediate comment.

Climate Observatory’s calculations factored in deforestation and changes in land use, methane emissions from cow burps, as well as energy use and waste stemming from agricultural and industrial processes.

As the first study of its type, Climate Observatory did not provide historic figures for comparison.

Ranked alongside countries, Brazil’s beef industry alone would be the world’s seventh-largest greenhouse gas emitter, ahead of major economies such as Japan. — Reuters

“We expect it to be higher than last year…the highest we could reach is about 20 million MT,” Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio S. Sebastian told reporters on the sidelines of the International Rice Congress last week.

Mr. Sebastian added that during the first half, the harvest was ahead of the year-earlier pace by about 300,000 MT.

Last year, palay output fell to 19.76 million MT from 19.96 million MT a year earlier, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Mr. Sebastian said that El Niño has yet to affect the current harvest.

“There is no El Niño yet, the effect we are seeing is a lot of rain. We will prepare for it in the dry season,” he added.

The government weather service, known as PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration), has said that El Niño is likely to peak in late 2023 and early 2024.

Separately, International Potato Center Asia Regional Director Samarendu Mohanty said he does not consider rice self-sufficiency to be easy to achieve for the Philippines amid an increasing population.

“I don’t think you’ll be self-sufficient, with the population growth you have. You still have to address it through imports. And if you (resort to) imports, then you have this uncertainty (in the form of) exporting countries’ restrictions,” Mr. Mohanty said.

India’s Director of Foreign Trade announced on last week the easing of its export ban on non-basmati white rice, allocating 250,000 MT to the Philippines.

Vietnam, the Philippines’ top source for rice, announced plans to reduce rice exports to four million tons a year by 2033.

In a report the PSA said that Philippine’s rice self-sufficiency ratio declined to 77% in 2022 from 81.5% a year earlier.

Asked to comment, Mr. Sebastian said rice self-sufficiency can be attained via the government’s Masagana Rice Industry Development Program.

The program aims to stabilize the supply of the staple grain at between 24.99 million MT and 26.86 million MT, in the process keeping the annual growth of rice prices at less than 1%.

“We have to exert a lot of effort, we need to focus on initially irrigating about 1.5 million hectares, maximize the productivity in that area… (and) we could get higher yields, he said. — Adrian H. Halili