Agriculture

For Filipinos, rice is like air and water—they can never live without it. As the country’s most important food commodity, rice accounts for 9 per cent of total domestic household spending as well as one-third of total food consumption. Playing a crucial role in the country’s political stability and national security, it is said that rice is a huge decisive factor for running the country’s national affairs.

Copper fungicides first used against coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix) on the Indian sub-continent during the 19th century remain the mainstay for control of this most important disease of coffee, now present in all main coffee growing regions of the world.

Carabao mango’s distinct succulent taste puts the country on the international map as having the world’s best mango. If foreigners are asked on what makes their visit to the Philippines memorable, they would only blurt out one word: mangoes.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in agriculture—a long-neglected sector—tripled between the start of the decade and the onset of the global recession, climbing from US $2 billion in 2000 to $6 billion in 2006-2008.