ASCOT Library Zabali Campus

Part I: economics of agriculture – Part II: agricultural credit. – Part III: Agricultural production and marketing. – Part IV: Institutional development in agriculture – Part V: Agricultural development programs.

"As a text on basic agricultural economics, it has been revised for the second time to provide more timely information and to improve further its social content. Topics like multinational agribusiness corporations, green revolution, World Bank, reduction of poverty, critical analysis of agrarian reform, capitalist agriculture, Land Bank's program for the small farmers, and other vital issues in agriculture which have greatly affected our economic development and the lives of our poor farmers have been added in this new edition.
Agricultural economics is not only concerned with economic efficiency but also with social equity. Maximum pro- fits in agriculture become most meaningful if these belong to the small farmers and other depressed groups in the rural areas who depend on agriculture. Unfortunately, this has never been the case in reality. The promise of good life for the small farmers appears only in government plans and pro- grams. In contrast, the farmers in the United States, Japan, Israel, Taiwan and other progressive countries enjoy a high standard of living.
Agriculture is the principal source of our national income. It is the foundation of our economy and society. And yet it is dominated by foreign interests especially the Americans. We use their agricultural technology, seed varieties, irrigation pumps, fertilizers, insecticides, and even their money. They also monopolize the processing and marketing of our agricultural products. In fact, we can not produce our own rice without using American technology, fertilizers and insecticides. In all these agricultural operations, the World Bank and the multi- national agribusiness corporations are directly involved. As a result, the fruits of our agricultural development have gone to the Americans and their Filipino agents. Thus, until now the small Filipino farmers and their children have remained in their poor and squalid existence.
Precisely, this is not the kind of agricultural economy that we dream for our poor farmers and for the country. It should be Philippine agriculture for the economic benefits of our own small farmers and of our own nation. This new edition therefore does not only explain the relationships of economic principles and policies, and the various institutions to agriculture, but also stresses the importance and implication of social justice in agricultural development. Our students deserve to know what is wrong with our Philippine agriculture.
I wish to express my sincere appreciation for the assistance given to me by the librarians of the UP Institute of Agricultural Economics, Asian Library and Lyceum of the Philippines, to the authors and publishers of the various articles and books which I have used as references, and to all faculty members who have adopted the first and second editions as a textbook. My personal gratitude goes to Professors Arturo Geneblazo, Olivia Caimol and Luisa Garcia for their special participation in the writing of this book."