MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is seeking a P284.4 billion budget for 2021, a nearly 256 percent increase from this year’s budget, to be able to respond to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. During the hearing of the House committee on agriculture and food, officials from the agriculture department presented their budget proposal for 2021, which is P204.5 billion higher than their P79.9 billion budget in 2020. We seek your highest approval of our budget proposal for the coming year,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar told lawmakers. The agriculture department is also eyeing a P55.97 billion budget for the rice sub-sector—of which P24.81 billion will be allocated for the country’s national rice program. Further, DA also proposed a P7.15 billion budget for foreign-assisted projects such as the Philippine Rural Development Project.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 08, 2020 03:57 UTC