The Department of Agriculture (abbreviated as DA; fil, Kagawaran ng Agrikultura) is the

executive department The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

of the Philippine government responsible for the promotion of agricultural and fisheries development and growth. It has its headquarters at

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corner Visayas Avenue, Diliman,

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

. The department is currently led by the secretary of agriculture, nominated by the

president of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of ...

and confirmed by the Commission on Appointments. The secretary is a member of the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. The current secretary is Bongbong Marcos, who assumed office on June 30, 2022 in concurrent capacity as President.

History

The Department of Agriculture had its spiritual beginnings when President Emilio Aguinaldo of the

Revolutionary Government of the Philippines A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

established the Department of Agriculture and Manufacturing on June 23, 1898. Jose Alejandrino was appointed the first secretary.

American colonial government

In 1901, under the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

colonial government, priority was given to the development of other agricultural products, such as rice and other basic commodities, as well as

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

, forestry, and

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

. This new focus necessitated the establishment of the Insular Bureau of Agriculture. This bureau was put under the Department of the Interior through Act No. 271 of the Philippine Legislature, and was later put under the supervision of the Department of Public Instruction in 1910. The first Filipino to head the Bureau of Agriculture was Adriano Hernández, himself a practicing farmer. The Bureau of Agriculture grew rapidly until it was abolished by the enactment of Act No. 2666, otherwise known as An Act to Re-organize the Executive Department of the Government of the Philippine Islands, on November 18, 1916, and was implemented on January 1, 1917. This act provided for the establishment of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR), which would take over direct executive control, direction, and supervision of the Bureaus of Agriculture, Forestry, Lands, Science, and Weather, as well as all matters concerning

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

, fisheries,

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s and other sea products, and such others as may be assigned to it by law. By virtue of another reorganization (as per Act No. 4007) in 1932, the DANR became the Department of Agriculture and Commerce. The Bureau of Commerce, which used to be under the Department of Commerce and Communication, was placed under the reorganized department. In 1942, while the Commonwealth government was in exile, the department was re-organized again, becoming the Department of Finance, Agriculture and Commerce. Upon the resumption of the commonwealth in February 1945, it became the Department of Justice, Agriculture and Commerce, and then back to being the Department of Agriculture and Commerce in December the same year.

Post-independence

In 1947, the agriculture department was renamed again as the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources by virtue of Executive Order No. 94. The Bureau of Commerce, among others, was incorporated to the newly created

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. On September 14, 1959, the DANR moved to its current building in Diliman,

from the Agrifina Circle (now the Teodoro Valencia Circle) in Manila. By virtue of Presidential Decree No. 461, the DANR was split in May 1974 into two departments: the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Natural Resources (now the DENR). After the shift to the

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in 1978, all departments were changed to ministries. Thus, the office became the Ministry of Agriculture and Food until 1987, when the office’s name was reverted to the Department of Agriculture by Executive Order No. 116. The same executive order mandated the DA to promote agricultural development by providing the policy framework, public investment, and support services, which are needed for domestic and export-oriented business enterprises. Guided by the principle that agriculture is business, the DA implemented policy and institutional reforms that freed the agriculture markets, enabling farmers to enjoy higher farmgate prices. These reforms included the dismantling of agricultural monopolies and the elimination of agricultural taxes. Reforms of the agricultural credit system, such as the phase-out of the direct lending scheme, were also initiated. In May 2014, pursuant to Executive Order No. 165, four agencies representing three-quarters of the DA's budget — the

Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority The Philippines' Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority ( fil, Pangasiwaan sa Pataba at Pestisidyo, abbreviated as FPA), is a technical regulatory agency under the Department of Agriculture. The agency is responsible for assuring adequate supply of ...

, the National Food Authority, the National Irrigation Administration, and the Philippine Coconut Authority — were removed from DA control. This was part of the anti-corruption reforms which followed the pork barrel scam. The four agencies are now direct subjects of the Office of the President, where they are overseen by the

Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization The Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization (PAFSAM) was a Cabinet-level position under the Office of the President of the Philippines. It was created on May 5, 2014, by President Benigno Aquino III. The PAFSAM ...

List of Secretaries of Agriculture

Organizational structure

The department is headed by the Secretary of Agriculture, with the following undersecretaries and assistant secretaries: *Senior Undersecretary *Undersecretary for Administration and Finance *Undersecretary for Operations *Undersecretary for Policy, Planning, Research and Regulation *Undersecretary for Special Concerns *Assistant Secretary for Agribusiness *Assistant Secretary for Administration *Assistant Secretary for Finance *Assistant Secretary for Operations *Assistant Secretary for Fisheries *Assistant Secretary for Livestock *Assistant Secretary for Policy *Assistant Secretary for Planning and Project Development *Assistant Secretary for Regulations Under the Office of the Secretary are the following offices and services: * Administrative Service * Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service * Field Operations Service * Financial and Management Service * Information and Communications Technology Service * Internal Audit Service * Legal Service * Planning Service * Policy Research Service * Project Development Service A regional executive director is assigned to each of the 17 regions of the Philippines.

Bureaus

The DA is composed of eight bureaus, namely: * Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) * Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS), formerly known as Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Product Standards (BAFPS) until the enactment of R.A. No. 10601. *
Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI)
* Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) * Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) * Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) *

Bureau of Soils and Water Management The Philippines' Bureau of Soils and Water Management ( fil, Kawanihan ng Pamamahala sa Lupa at Tubig, abbreviated as BSWM), is an agency of the Philippine government under the Department of Agriculture responsible for advising and rendering as ...

(BSWM) * Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE), new bureau under R.A. No. 10601 Formerly-attached bureaus: * Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) (now under the

Philippine Statistics Authority The Philippine Statistics Authority ( Filipino: ''Pangasiwaan ng Estadistika ng Pilipinas''), abbreviated as PSA, is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that ''collects, compiles, analyzes and publishes statistical in ...

)

Attached agencies

The following agencies, corporations and councils are attached to the DA for policy and program coordination: * Agricultural Credit and Policy Council (ACPC) * Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) * National Dairy Authority (NDA) * National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) * National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) * National Tobacco Administration (NTA) * Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) * Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fishery (PCAF) * Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) * Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) *

Philippine Rice Research Institute Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is a government corporate entity attached to the Department of Agriculture created through Executive Order 1061 on November 5, 1985 (as amended) to help develop high-yielding and cost-reducing techno ...

(Philrice) *

Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) is an autonomous inter-governmental body established in 1967. The mission of SEAFDEC considered and adopted by the Special Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council 2017 is “''To promote and faci ...

(SEAFDEC) * Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) *

(FPA) * National Food Authority (NFA) * Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) * National Irrigation Administration (NIA) * Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) Formerly-attached agencies: * Cotton Development Administration (CODA) (merged with Fiber Industry Development Authority) * Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) (transferred to Department of Finance)

References

{{authority control Agricultural organizations based in the Philippines 1898 establishments in the Philippines Philippines, Agriculture Agriculture ministries

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...