SOCIAL STUDIES

• Agriculture is the science and art of raising products of the soil (crops and animals) to satisfy human wants.
• Ager - Field

  Cultura - Culture
• Agricultural production includes:

  * Crop Production (food crops or commercial crops)

  * Livestock and Poultry Raising

  * Forestry

  * Fisheries (Commercial, municipal, aquaculture)
• Shown in Figure 1, the animal production industry had the most establishments in the agriculture sector (48.0%).
• Figure 2 states that the growing of perennial crops industry had the most number of employees.
• In Figure 3, the growing of perennial crops industry gave the highest average annual compensation per paid employee.
• In Figure 4, the growing of perennial crops industry generated the highest revenue and incurred the highest expenses.
• Agriculture is important because it is:

  * Source of food for the population

  * Chief source of raw materials for the industry

  * Source of foreign exchange

  * Source of livelihood and income for the people

  * Major contributor to national income and output

  * Major market for manufactured goods
• The main issue in agriculture is the need for rural development and agrarian reform.
• Agrarian reform is the redistribution of lands, regardless of crops or fruits produced to farmers and regular farmworkers who are landless, irrespective of tenurial agreement.
• Agrarian reform is a catalyst for agricultural development.
• Encomienda System (Spanish) – land redistributed to the encomenderos
• Peninsulares: living outside the Philippines
• Insulares: living inside the Philippines
• Datus: can manage a territory; higher than the Indio
• Principalia: the ruling and educated upper class
• Gobernadorcillo: highest position that Filipino Indios can achieve that time
• Friar Land Act (American) – ecclesiastical encomiendas (friar lands) were bought by the American government to be sold to the tenants on installment basis
• Commonwealth Act No. 178 (An Amendment to Rice Tenancy Act No. 4045) - provided for certain controls in the landlord-tenant relationships
• National Rice and Corn Corporation (NARIC)- established the price of rice and corn thereby help the poor tenants as well as consumers.
• Republic Act No. 34 (Manuel A. Roxas) - Established the 70-30 sharing arrangements and regulating share-tenancy contracts.
• Republic Act No. 55 (Manuel A. Roxas) - provided for a more effective safeguard against arbitrary ejectment of tenants.
• Executive Order No. 355 issued on October 23, 1950 (Elpidio R. Quirino) - Replaced the National Land Settlement Administration with Land Settlement Development Corporation (LASEDECO) which takes over the responsibilities of the Agricultural Machinery Equipment Corporation and the Rice and Corn Production Administration.
• Republic Act No. 1160 of 1954 (Ramon Magsaysay) -- Abolished the LASEDECO and established the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA) to resettle dissidents and landless farmers. It was particularly aimed at rebel returnees providing home lots and farmlands in Palawan and Mindanao.
• Republic Act No. 1199 (Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954) (Ramon Magsaysay) - governed the relationship between landowners and tenant farmers by organizing share-tenancy and leasehold system.
• Republic Act No. 1400 (Land Reform Act of 1955) (Ramon Magsaysay) - Created the Land Tenure Administration (LTA) which was responsible for the acquisition and distribution of large tenanted rice and corn lands over 200 hectares for individuals and 600 hectares for corporations.
• Republic Act No. 821 (Creation of Agricultural Credit Cooperative Financing Administration) (Ramon Magsaysay) - Provided small farmers and share tenants loans with low interest rates of six to eight percent.
• Republic Act No. 3844 of August 8, 1963 (Agricultural Land Reform Code) (Diosdado P. Macapagal) - Abolished share tenancy, institutionalized leasehold, set retention limit at 75 hectares, invested rights of preemption and redemption for tenant farmers, provided for an administrative machinery for implementation, institutionalized a judicial system of agrarian cases, incorporated extension, marketing and supervised credit system of services of farmer beneficiaries.
• The Republic Act No. 3844 was hailed as the one that would emancipate Filipino farmers from the bondage of tenancy.
• Republic Act No. 6389, (Code of Agrarian Reform) and RA No. 6390 of 1971 (Ferdinand Marcos) - created the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Agrarian Reform Special Account Fund. It strengthened the position of farmers and expanded the scope of agrarian reform.
• Presidential Decree No. 2, September 26, 1972 (Marcos)

  • Declared the country under land reform program.
  • It enjoined all agencies and offices of the government to extend full cooperation and assistance to the DAR.
  • It also activated the Agrarian Reform Coordinating Council.
• Presidential Decree No. 27, October 21, 1972 (Marcos)

  • Restricted land reform scope to tenanted rice and corn lands and set the retention limit at 7 hectares.
• On June 10, 1988, former President Corazon C. Aquino signed into law Republic Act No. 6657 or otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL). The law became effective on June 15, 1988.
• Executive Order No. 405, June 14, 1990 (Corazon Aquino)

  • Vested in the Land Bank of the Philippines the responsibility to determine land valuation and compensation for all lands covered by CARP.
• Executive Order No. 407, June 14, 1990 (Corazon Aquino) – Accelerated the acquisition and distribution of agricultural lands, pasture lands, fishponds, agro-forestry lands and other lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture.
• In 2023-2024, The Philippines was the top principal rice importer with 3,800 tons worldwide.
• Problems in the Agribusiness according to the PDP 2023-2028:

  • Low farm/labor productivity
  • Low access to credit and insurance
  • Unsustainable farming practices and underutilized agro-forestry and blue economy potential
  • Weak export performance
  • Weak investments in the AFF sector
  • Inadequate infrastructure
  • Fragmentation of agricultural lands
  • High vulnerability to multidimensional shocks
• Republic Act No. 6657 (CARP)

  • an act instituting a comprehensive agrarian reform program to promote social justice and industrialization, providing the mechanism for its implementation, and for other purposes
• Program for Unified Lending to Agriculture (PUNLA)

  • a credit facility under the Agro-Industry Modernization Credit and Financing Program (AMCFP).
  • It aims to address the financial needs of marginal farmers and fisherfolk for fast, convenient and affordable credit to strengthen delivery of agricultural credit and increase outreach to more small farmers and fishers.
• The PUNLA Is grounded on four (4) strategic pillars, namely: (i) Make credit access easy and convenient; (ii) Bring down interest rates; (iii) Expand credit delivery channels; and (iv) Ensure sustainability of credit.