Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
enue allotments to LGUs by the national government. A total of 40 percent of
the national government's internal tax revenues is allocated each year to LGUs.
With the decline in the share of international trade taxes, LGUs account for an
increasing share of the total tax revenues of the national government.
It is widely perceived in the country that the devolution program has failed
to provide most LGUs with adequate resources and expertise to effectively as-
sume responsibilities formerly undertaken by the national government. The
lack of funds is exacerbated by the fact that even where national government
funds are made available to augment local resources, they are exclusively chan-
neled to a centrally packaged menu of programs that may differ from the iden-
tified needs and priorities of the LGUs. LGUs, therefore, end up passively par-
ticipating in nationally funded projects.
Because of lack of funds and the decades-old practice of centralized de-
velopment planning and implementation, many LGUs are unable to supply the
required public investments for the development of the grains sector in their re-
spective localities. A few LGUs that are financially able to do so are biased
against agriculture-related programs, which they perceive as being more costly,
having less per capita income impact, having poor prospects for cost recovery,
and generating smaller political benefits per peso of investment than town cen-
ters or other highly visible projects.
Developing closer Department of Agriculture-LGU linkages, therefore,
will only partly solve the problem, as there is no assurance that the department
will accede to LGU priorities. Nor is there any binding commitment on the part
of the LGU to adhere to national targets and objectives, given that funds will
still be controlled by the Department of Agriculture. Nevertheless, establish-
ment of a more effective coordination system between the two agencies can be
an initial step in crafting a more formal and effective bottom-up planning and
implementation arrangement. For this purpose, the regional field units of the
Department of Agriculture will need reorientation and training in the planning
and handling of projects in closer coordination with LGUs. LGUs, in turn, will
have to actively involve farmers and other local residents in the configuration
of their plans and implementation of projects to generate public support for their
projects.
5
ENCOURAGING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
. The positive contribution
of improved technologies and infrastructure to the development of the agricul-
ture sector cannot be overemphasized. In the pipeline for the grain industries
are rice hybrids, single-cross yellow corn hybrids,
Bt
corn, improved white corn
varieties, integrated pest management, and balanced fertilization schemes.
To accelerate the development and commercialization of such technolo-
gies, two measures are proposed that encourage private-sector investments in
5. However, for a successful coordination of the Department of Agriculture and LGUs, other
issues need to be sorted out. For a discussion, see AGILE (2000).