Department of Agriculture Claimed

Dr. William Dollente Dar is a man fated to do great things. History does repeat itself for this man from Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, as he was called again to serve government as the Secretary of Agriculture on August 5, 2019, under the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. He first served the Department of Agriculture (DA) from July 1998 to May 1999 under President Joseph Ejercito Estrada.

Upon his assumption to office, Dar introduced the “New Thinking for Agriculture” which is anchored on the vision: A food-secure Philippines with prosperous farmers and fisherfolk. The vision has over-arching twin goals of increasing productivity and making farmers and fishers prosperous or his term’s battlecry, “Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita”.

Never in the history of the DA that a vision statement has been elevated to focus on the farmers and fisherfolk becoming prosperous.

With President Duterte’s marching order to arrest the anemic growth of the agriculture sector, which has barely grown in the past decade, at a rate of 1.1% annually, Dar targets the agriculture to grow at least 2%, from August 2019 to July 2020; and increase up to 2.5-3% in 2021; and 3-4% in 2022.