Press Release
August 10, 2009

CHIZ: AGRI SELF-SUFFICIENCY CRITICAL TO BOOSTING
BUSINESS CLIMATE

Boosting agriculture self-sufficiency will be critical in lowering costs of doing business in the country and creating a more stable business climate, opposition Sen. Chiz Escudero said.

"Let us be reminded that the poorest families belong to the agricultural sector. Forty percent of our labor force is directly dependent on agriculture. Another 20% are indirectly dependent," he said.

He explained that the average Filipino household spends about 52% of its income on food while the average Malaysian or Thai household spends only 34% for the same items.

"By lowering their expenditure on food, we would be awarding every family with an increase in disposable income, and mitigate labor demands for wage increases," Escudero added.

In turn, he said this is expected to give the country's business environment a big boost. The senator was a guest at the Economic Agenda of the 2010 Presidentiables forum of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) in Makati recently.

Escudero also called for an increase in the budget for agricultural research and development to 5% of agricultural production which stands at about P1.7 trillion.

This, he said, would bring about better varieties and more efficient farming methods which would increase yields and give the farmer higher incomes even while farmgate prices go down to benefit the consumer.

At the same time, Escudero said there was an urgent need to supply post harvest facilities to rice farmers.

"Our rice farmer loses as much as 20% of his palay harvest using antiquated threshing and drying methods. If we could save only half of that or 10%, there would be no need for rice importation. We might even end up with a surplus," the 39-year old senator stressed.

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