IS IT TIME TO SHIFT FROM OLD FARMERS TO NEW AGRIPRENEURS?

IS IT TIME TO SHIFT FROM OLD FARMERS TO NEW AGRIPRENEURS?

Mr. Rei Marquez of Radar.ph has issued a warning that we cannot afford to ignore: “Our farmers are facing extinction, and the Philippine countryside is dying with them.” I agree with him 100 percent.

He cites data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showing that national population growth has slowed to 0.80% from 2020 to 2024, down from 1.63% in the previous five years. Meanwhile, the farm populations of provinces such as Marinduque, Romblon and Mountain Province are shrinking as young people leave for the cities. The Commission on Population and Development has even sounded the alarm over rural depopulation.

But here is the most disturbing statistic: the average Filipino farmer is now 57 to 59 years old. As Mr. Marquez wrote, “In less than 12 years, we won’t be debating food prices—we will be wondering who is left behind to till the soil at all.” That statement should send chills down our spine.

The children of these farmers are not lining up to replace them either. They prefer the BPO sector, the service industry, or overseas work. Who can blame them? Traditional farming is physically exhausting, climate-dependent, and financially uncertain. If this trend continues, we may soon face farms without farmers—and a nation dependent almost entirely on imported food.

With all due respect to our conventional “magsasaka,” the model must evolve. The old farmer works mainly with his hands. The new agripreneur must work primarily with his brain.

I am talking about smart farming—science-driven, technology-oriented, data-based agriculture. The kind of farming that uses drones for spraying, soil sensors for precision irrigation, satellite imaging for crop monitoring, and artificial intelligence for yield forecasting. Farming that uses machines, computers, robots, and machine learning algorithms. Farming that treats the farm not as a subsistence patch, but as a scalable enterprise.

Mr. Marquez himself points to hope in the Department of Agriculture’s Young Farmers Challenge and the MAYA Internship programs, which aim to transform farming into profitable “agripreneurship.” That is a good start. But technology alone will not revive dying towns.

We need to consciously raise a new generation of agripreneurs.

This does not mean disrespecting the old farmers. On the contrary, we must integrate them. Agripreneurs can consolidate clusters of small farms, introduce shared machinery, provide digital advisory tools, and handle processing and marketing. The old farmers contribute wisdom and experience; the new agripreneurs bring systems, capital, and innovation.

Consider nipa palm. Traditionally used for shingles, it is now being explored for bioethanol (“Nipahol”) and high-value sweeteners. In Indonesia and parts of the Philippines, nipa is being called “green gold” because it grows in swampland without fertilizers. That is the mindset shift—from survival farming to value-added business farming.

Of course, I do not want us to remain merely an agricultural country. I want us to become an industrial nation—but with a strong agricultural base. In short, an agroindustrial country.

Without a new generation of agripreneurs, we may even lose that base entirely.

Is it time to shift? The demographic data says yes. The market pressures say yes. The food security risks say yes.

The “shift” is no longer optional. It is a demographic necessity.

If we fail to act now, by 2030 we may not be arguing about rice prices—we may be asking whether we can even produce rice at all.

Let us protect our farmers. But more importantly, let us produce their successors.

RAMON IKE V. SENERES

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