The agriculture mechanization law

Last June 5, President Noynoy Aquino signed the Agriculture and Fisheries Mechanization Law. Two questions must be answered: (1) Is mechanization good for us, since it will surely cause job losses? (2) If it is favorable, what is needed to make it successful?

According to Wikipedia, “mechanized agriculture is the process of using agriculture machinery to mechanize the work of agriculture, greatly increasing farm worker productivity.”

Mechanization has its advantages and disadvantages. Wikipedia continues: “Besides improving production efficiency, mechanization encourages large scale production and improves the quality of farm produce. On the other hand, it displaces unskilled farm labor, causes environmental pollution, deforestation and erosion.”

On the one hand, there is the advantage of quality of farm produce. On the other, there is the displacement of unskilled labor. Given these trade-offs, do we want mechanization or not?

Alyansa Agrikultura leaders met last June 17 and discussed the facts. The average age of our farmers is 57 years. Our youth do not want to stay in the farms where work is hard and income low. Mechanization holds a better future for them because the work will be mechanized and incomes increased through better product quality and lower costs.

Right now, many imported products replace ours because of their farm mechanization. This has improved the quality of their farm produce and increased farm worker productivity (which has resulted in lower prices). It is therefore better for us to mechanize and lose some jobs now than to lose most of our jobs later because of inadequate mechanization. This is especially true with the coming tariff-free regime in the 2015 Asean economic integration.

The article “A general evaluation analysis of the rice mechanization in the Philippines” by C.S. Ahammed and R.W. Head states: “If we compare the impact using mechanized techniques of rice production under gravity or pump system with the traditional techniques under rainfed and upland rice, it is evident that even the least labor intensive irrigation system absorbs more labor than the most labor intensive rainfed systems… Low productivity due to lack of water and inadequate input is responsible for low employment.”

The principle is the same: better to mechanize and lose a few jobs now than to have no jobs at all later because of low quality and high prices due to lack of mechanization.

According to the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), the Agriculture and Fisheries Mechanization Law “mandates the state to promote the development and adoption of modern, appropriate, cost effective, and environmentally safe agriculture and fisheries machinery and equipment to enhance farm productivity and efficiency in order to achieve food security and safety and higher farmers’ income.”

The most important part of the law is that it also mandates the provision of support services, such as credit facilities, training extension programs, and marketing services. The emphasis is to deliver integrated support services to farmers, fisherfolk, and other stakeholders in a way that they will be able to effectively operate and manage these agriculture and fisheries mechanization projects.

It is clear we need farm mechanization. PhilMech Executive Director Rex Bingabing states that our mechanization index is 0.5 horsepower per hectare. This means we must increase our mechanization level by as much as 40 percent just to reach the 0.7 horsepower level of Malaysia and Thailand today.

However, mechanization will not happen just because a law has been passed. The same law requires the formulation of a National Agriculture and Fishery Program to promote Philippine agriculture mechanization. We recommend that this be done with private sector participation. It must also address the disadvantages we cited earlier: unskilled farm labor displacement, environmental pollution, deforestation, and erosion.

In addition, the LGUs, who are now responsible for agriculture development in their communities, should formulate their own unique agriculture mechanization program. We should even make a condition that agricultural support as a result of this law will be given only to municipalities with a farm mechanization program that is made part of their municipal agriculture plans.  With this new law and the necessary follow-up implementation actions, our mechanization will enable us to face the 2015 tariff-free Asean economic integration challenge. This will also put us back among the agriculture leaders in Southeast Asia.

(The author is chair of Agriwatch, former Secretary for Presidential Flagship Programs and Projects, and former Undersecretary for Agriculture, Trade and Industry. For inquiries and suggestions, e-mail [email protected] or telefax (02) 8522112).