Philippines

Research Priorities

ACIAR’s medium-term research strategy and geographic priorities in the Philippines are reviewed every 4–5 years through consultations between ACIAR’s research programs and the key research coordinating agencies, universities, farmer organisations and private sector stakeholders. The current strategy will be reviewed in 2011 as part of the development of a whole-of-government strategy for the Philippines.

In recent years ACIAR’s program has had an increasing focus on Mindanao and the Visayas, where the issues of agricultural intensification and a declining natural resource base coincide in upland areas. A significant proportion of Philippine farming is carried out in fragile sloping environments or sensitive watersheds, and it is important that intensification of agricultural productivity does not come at the expense of land degradation.

Under the current medium-term strategy, ACIAR’s research projects in the Philippines are delivered through the following four themes:

Increasing the market competitiveness of Philippine horticultural products

Two major horticultural initiatives involving researchers, government, NGOs and industry partners commenced in 2008, with a total investment of approximately $12 million. Together, ACIAR’s southern Philippines fruits and vegetables program aims to (1) improve smallholder and industry profitability and market competitiveness of selected vegetable industries (including potato, tomato, bell pepper, brassicas, leafy vegetables) and (2) identify and implement improvements to domestic and export value chains for tropical fruits (mango, papaya, durian and jackfruit) through targeted interventions in policy and regulatory analysis, production, disease and pest management, and postharvest handling.

Competitive and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture production

In the Philippines, as in many other countries, wild-harvest fish catches are declining while demand continues to rise. For well over a decade ACIAR has been working with Philippine research agencies, both national and regional, to develop and refine robust technologies for the culture and grow-out of high-value marine species, including mud crab, grouper and other marine food fish, sea cucumbers and giant clams. More recently, collaborative research has commenced to address the declining productivity of seaweed, a key source of income for Philippine coastal communities.

Land and water resource management for profitable and sustainable agriculture

Many Philippine watersheds have been severely degraded, thus reducing their capacity to provide vital economic benefits and ecological services. Impacts include decreased agricultural productivity, pollution of water resources (especially with sediment), increased risk of flooding downstream and increased risk of landslides. ACIAR will continue to support national watershed R&D programs through targeted research collaboration to identify promising management practices best suited to local conditions.

Addressing policy and technical constraints to achieving improved returns from pig production and marketing

Pork accounts for around 60% of all meat produced and consumed in the Philippines. The industry is large and highly diverse, with a wide range of production systems from large-scale commercial to low-input subsistence, but it is dominated by smallholder farmers. The designation of the Philippines as free of FMD provides the opportunity to export pigs and pork to hitherto closed markets such as Singapore.

Other projects

The Philippines is currently the largest importer of rice in the world, at around 1.8 million tonnes in 2008. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is headquartered in Los Baños in the Philippines. ACIAR provides core funding to IRRI and also supports additional initiatives aimed at maintaining rice productivity.