The high proposed 2026 agriculture budget in the Philippines will leverage market access, boost farmers’ income and lower food prices.
Lawmakers are already hailing the 214.39-billion peso ($3.65 billion) budget proposal for the Department of Agriculture (DA) as historic.
Senator Francis Pangilinan called the allocation the biggest since 2010, per a Phil News report on December 21, 2025.
The DA had earlier desired a full 176.7-billion peso ($3.01 billion) for the sector to give “long overdue support” to farmers.
Upon approval in the House of Representatives, the agricultural largesse will echo the proposed national budget at 6.793 trillion peso ($115.8 billion).
For the agriculture department, accountability of spending is quite clear on five key areas. These include funding yield boost, financing value chain strength, footing crop insurance bills, expanding mechanization and boosting market access.
Market Access & Related
The government will improve market access by procuring produce directly from producers via a 500-million peso ($8.52 million) allocation to the Sagip Saka Act.
This is the initial such amount for the Act since its passage in 2019 to help the state procure food from co-ops.
Governmental deliveries of the purchases will in turn reduce prices for consumers because of the displacement of transportation costs.
Consumers will further get distribution convenience via the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita program’s 300 million peso ($5.11 million) allocation.
Agricultural food hubs such as rice-for-all centers will get a budget worth 2.625 billion peso ($44.7 million). A part of this amount will fund infrastructure such as developing roads near markets.
Other budgetary allocations include a malnutrition fund amounting to 3 billion peso ($51.12 million).
This is relevant for 1 in 5 agricultural workers in the PH live on the edge of poverty, per the DA.
Agriculture Secretary Tiu Laurel Jr.’s remarked that their goal is not just to grow extra food but to see families advance. The remarks reflect the expansive budgetary proposal for 2026, which in itself is a small part of the national budget, per the below stats.
Philippines Agriculture Budget Statistics
The agriculture sector of the Philippines is one of the pillars of the economy. It used to get an annual share of the national budget at between 2% and 5% between 1987 and 2018. This is per a graphical representation by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
In some years, the agriculture budget has been slowing instead of expanding. An example is 2019 when the budget proposal lowered to 49.8 billion peso ($848.6 million) from 2018’s 55.7 billion peso ($949.13 million).
Economically, agriculture employs millions of workers, around 10 million or 1/5th of which live in poverty. To efface this gap, the Department of Agriculture (DA) proposed a budget of over 176.7 billion peso ($3.01 billion) in 2026. This is only a fraction of the total 2026 budget proposal at 6.793 trillion peso ($115.8 billion). But it exceeds all agriculture budgets since 2010.
As such, the table below gives a historical perspective of the PH’s agriculture budget as a share of the national budget. It covers highlights in the 1987-2018 period, courtesy of the DBM:
| Year | Approximate share of national budget |
| 2018 | <2% |
| 2009 | <4% |
| 2000 | >3.5% |
| 1997 | >4% |
| 1987 | 3% |