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 The Government of the Philippines ( fil, Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and d ...

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

Elliptical Road The Elliptical Road is a roundabout in Quezon City which circumscribes the Quezon Memorial Circle, a large park. It was named after its elliptical shape. The spinning in this roundabout is in a counterclockwise direction. The road is divided ...

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 The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

, 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 t ...

and confirmed by the

Commission on Appointments The Commission on Appointments ( fil, Komisyon sa Paghirang, abbreviated as CA) is a constitutional body which confirms or rejects certain political appointments made by the President of the Philippines. The current commission was created by th ...

. 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 * Filing ...

. The current secretary is

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. ( , , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials PBBM or BBM, is a Filipino politician who is the 17th and current president of the Philippines. He previously served as a senat ...

, who assumed office on June 30, 2022 in concurrent capacity as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

History

The Department of Agriculture had its spiritual beginnings when President

Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who is the youngest president of the Philippines (1899–1901) and is recognized as the first president of the Philippine ...

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 Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

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 Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

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 stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

, 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 economic via ...

. 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 The Philippine Legislature was the legislature of the Philippines from 1907 to 1935, during the American colonial period, and predecessor of the current Congress of the Philippines. It was bicameral and the legislative branch of the Insular G ...

, 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,

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

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 The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian 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

Department of Commerce and Industry Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

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

from the

Agrifina Circle The Agrifina Circle, officially the Teodoro F. Valencia Circle, is a traffic circle within the eastern portion of Rizal Park in Manila, the Philippines. Etymology The name "Agrifina" is a portmanteau of the words "Agriculture" and "Finance" sinc ...

(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

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

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 A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

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 The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) ( fil, Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig) is a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation primarily responsible for irrigation development and management in the country. History NIA was ...

, and the

Philippine Coconut Authority The Philippine Coconut Authority ( fil, Pangasiwaan sa Niyog ng Pilipinas, abbreviated as PCA or PHILCOA) is an agency of the Philippine government under the Department of Agriculture (from 2014 to 2018, under the Office of the President of the ...

— were removed from DA control. This was part of the anti-corruption reforms which followed the

pork barrel scam The Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, also called the PDAF scam or the pork barrel scam, is a political scandal involving the alleged misuse by several members of the Congress of the Philippines of their Priority Development Assistance ...

. The four agencies are now direct subjects of the

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, 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 The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

, 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 In the Philippines, regions ( fil, rehiyon; ISO 3166-2:PH) are administrative divisions that primarily serve to coordinate planning and organize national government services across multiple local government units (LGUs). Most national governm ...

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 (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 inf ...

)

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 The Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority or PhilFIDA ( fil, Pangasiwaan sa Pagpapaunlad ng Industriya ng Himaymay) is an agency of the Philippine Department of Agriculture responsible for promoting the accelerated growth and developm ...

(PhilFIDA) * National Dairy Authority (NDA) * National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) * National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) * National Tobacco Administration (NTA) *

Philippine Carabao Center The Philippine Carabao Center ( fil, Sentro ng Kalabaw sa Pilipinas or ''Sentro ng Pilipinas para sa Kalabaw'') an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (Philippines), Department of Agriculture, was established at Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, ...

(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 (SEAFDEC) *

Sugar Regulatory Administration The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA; Filipino: ''Pangasiwaan sa Regulasyon ng Asukal''; Hiligaynon: ''Administrasyon sa Regulasyon sang Kalamay'') is a government-owned and controlled corporation attached to the Department of Agriculture o ...

(SRA) *

(FPA) * National Food Authority (NFA) *

(PCA) *

(NIA) *

Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

(PCIC) Formerly-attached agencies: *

Cotton Development Administration Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

(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 to ...