A BILL seeking to inject more youth in the agricultural workforce was filed at the House of Representatives last month.
House Bill No. 5291 seeks to establish a national program to attract and train the young to take up farming, offering education and technical training, livelihood support and access to credit to develop their farm lots.
“The Philippine agriculture sector is on the edge of collapse,” Iligan City Rep. Celso G. Regencia said in the bill’s explanatory note, which was filed on Oct. 8. “The average age of a Filipino farmer is now 56 years old, and within a few years, many of them will no longer be able to plant the fields or fish the waters.”
“At the same time, there is no sufficient influx of young people to take their place, (and) unless decisive action is taken, the nation’s food production chain will break down,” he added.
The next decade could see crippling labor shortages in farming as young people increasingly migrate to city jobs.
“There remains a narrow window to avert this outcome,” according to Mr. Regencia, adding that authorities must develop a pipeline that will draw the young into agriculture and provide support to help them succeed.
The proposed “national pathway” for young farmers will be overseen by the Department of Agriculture (DA), with the departments of Agrarian Reform, Education and Trade and Industry among those also steering the program.
Under the bill, potential farmers aged 15 to 40 will be granted access to technical training, startup capital, and credit to help them get established.
“Not less than 10% of all credit facilities and financing windows administered by the government financial institutions and credit programs of the DA are to be reserved for young farmers and fisherfolk,” according to the bill.
Agribusinesses owned and led by young farmers will also be eligible for tax exemptions in the first five years of operations, alongside a 50% government subsidy on agricultural insurance. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
