AFTER the appointment of the new Agriculture secretary and the publication of my last two essays in this paper, several esteemed colleagues from the Foundation for Economic Freedom Inc. needled me to dedicate a column on recommendations to fix the agriculture sector's problems instead of merely enumerating a litany of challenges. In response, I am providing unsolicited advice on what needs to be done to fix it to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
First, I have continually repeated that the government should encourage farm clustering and consolidation to enjoy economies of scale in production. Again, let me stress that the proposal does not necessitate consolidation of farm ownership but merely the clustering and consolidation of production, processing and marketing.
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