BAGUIO CITY – The country’s agriculture sector needs the introduction of new technology and additional capital and investments to allow it to regain its vibrance and make the Philippines an exporter of agricultural crops, Danish Ambassador to the Philippines Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin said here recently.
Ambassador Mellbin was among the 18 diplomats from the European Union (EU) and its member states that had a three-day visit to the city to look into potential investments and assistance to green economy programs in the local level.
The Danish envoy recognized that the country fell behind because of the absence of new technology and additional investments that will allow the sector to flourish and make the Philippines a major exporter of agricultural crops in the future similar to its status in the 1970s where it was a major source of quality rice.
Recent studies showed that the Philippines has been left behind by more than 20 years in terms of technology in agriculture that caused the country’s agriculture sector to suffer from various problems from production to marketing over the past several decades.
However, Ambassador Mellbin assured the EU and its member state support to the country’s agriculture considering that the said sector in the EU and member countries is highly modernized and highly industrialized.
Further, he disclosed that there are also European companies that have invested in the establishment of cold storage facilities in the different parts of the country which is also important in helping provide opportunities for the prolonged shelf life of agricultural crops to ensure that the products still command higher buying prices in the local markets.
According to him, investments are also equally important in the agriculture sector to compliment the infusion of modern technology to be able to significantly improve production, enhance the quality of the products and provide access to international markets that will pave the way for export quality produce by the local farmers.
Earlier, the agriculture department announced plans to put up various cold storage facilities in strategic areas around the country to boost the availability of quality agricultural products in the local markets.
One of the strategies being studied by the government is for the mechanization of the agriculture sector that will be part of modernizing the sector to guarantee improved productivity and maintain good quality of the agricultural crops being produced by the agriculture industry stakeholders.
The Danish ambassador urged the government to maximize the country’s agricultural cooperation agreements with the EU and its member states to avail of the needed support that will help in achieving a modernized agriculture that would be attractive to potential investors locally and internationally.
However, he clarified that whatever modernization programs that will be implemented and adopted should be aligned with the major initiative of the EU which is focused on green economy for the preservation and protection of the environment and enhancement of trade for the Philippines, EU and its member states in the future. By Dexter A. See