Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Wednesday pushed for sweeping reforms and larger state investment in agriculture, warning that decades of underfunding have left the Philippines overly dependent on imports while local farmers struggle to compete.

Speaking before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform chaired by Senator Francis Pangilinan, Tiu Laurel underscored the urgent need to modernize the sector through irrigation, logistics, and market access.

“To irrigate over a million hectares of farmland, we need more than P1 trillion. Without it, we enrich foreign farmers while our own continue to struggle,” the agriculture chief said, stressing that investment must “match ambition” if the country is to achieve food security.

Secretary Tiu Laurel also urged lawmakers to revisit policies that he said undermine agricultural growth, particularly the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) and the Local Government Code. He argued that the RTL, while designed to liberalize the rice trade, has effectively weakened the DA and the National Food Authority’s ability to stabilize supply and prices.

“As currently written, RTL does not reform the rice industry – it threatens to kill it,” he warned.

On the devolution of extension services under the Local Government Code, Tiu Laurel said the DA has been left like “a general without soldiers.”

Still, he pointed to recent gains, including nearly full NFA warehouses, the establishment of a Virology Center, and the upcoming launch of a real-time market data command center. Foreign-backed initiatives such as Korea’s planned agri-machinery complex and France’s farm-to-market bridge program were also highlighted.

Domestically, the DA is rolling out faster insurance payouts, affordable credit for farmers, and agripreneurship opportunities for the youth.

“Our goal is clear: import only what we need, and produce as much as we can,” Secretary Tiu Laurel told senators.

He ended with a plea to ensure that farmers share in the gains of growth. “Let us ensure that the hands that feed the nation do not go home empty – robbed of dignity, stripped of dreams,” he said, adding with a quip: “As the saying goes, it’s not enough that they join the feast – they should get to take home some leftovers too.”