Mechanizing farms, agricultural logistics

Motoring through the Calabarzon area provides a view of the gaps in our economy. The road that passes by the entrance to Pico de Loro of the SM Group offers stunning views of the cliffs and coastlines of Batangas as well as Cavite.

At one curve, I chanced upon a modern-looking tractor, the kind that pulls other farm equipment and hauls crops. This may seem like an everyday kind of sighting and would normally be considered “meh.”

However, it was not the tractor that was surprising, but rather that it was the only one sighted during this particularly long ride around agricultural land.

I realized that the more prevalent “equipment” in our farmlands is cattle or oxen, the most frequent sightings on the road. But you will not see a massive herd; chances are you will see a couple of cows, at most five, chewing on grass and swatting the flies that bother them.

It is a scenic, peaceful image as you barrel down the road, but it also shows how limited mechanization in our agricultural sector is.

On a trip down south several years ago, the machines visible on the road of this sugar province were the trucks that hauled the sugarcane that were harvested and presumably destined for the mills.

Many of the trucks, however, looked ancient. Imagine these diesel monsters slowly rolling down a not-so-well-paved road and kicking up the dust with the sugarcane they carried towering on their “backs.” Again, while the scene is majestic, these trucks are no Transformers, the fictional robots in disguise.

Our farmers, together with their organic and mechanical assets, work hard to produce the same output as the previous year, but what we may not realize is that a farmer in another country producing similar agricultural products is aiming to do better. Better than last year, and better than everyone else. It is a volume game on the world stage.

Traveling across agricultural zones in some Asian countries, North America and Europe, you will notice the heavier presence of mechanized equipment. Talking with one energy operator in Western Europe, one of the main lessons is that logistics and infrastructure are key.

And you can see this on their roads with long lines of modern trucks traversing from farms to factories and then to ports. There are an equal number of trucks versus passenger vehicles, which suggests there is an equal movement of goods produced by firms and the domestic consumers.

Locally, it is the reverse as you see more four and two-wheeled passenger vehicles than trucks on the road.

The passage of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2026 provides some optimism that the agricultural sector is receiving more budgetary support than in the past and relative to other sectors. Of the approved P6.79-trillion budget for the year, the reported allocation for agriculture is P297.1 billion, which includes the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

Based on the GAA, the DA has an allocation of P165.5 billion for 2026, which reports suggest is an increase of between 16 and 19 percent from the previous expenditure program or budget.

What makes me optimistic is the increase in the DA budget is focused on irrigation, post-harvest support, and infrastructure for farm-to-market roads. In other words, the budget places emphasis on raising the competitiveness of our agriculture in both productivity and logistics, which aligns us with the best practices in both developed and faster developing countries.

To be fair, it will take time for the Philippines to recover its agricultural competitiveness. But these small steps will eventually lead to a better state for the sector.

I look forward to a road trip, hopefully soon, when overtaking not just one tractor but several tractors on farm-to-market roads signals that we have a mechanized and productive agricultural sector that supports growing food, manufacturing and energy industries.