Analysis Questions. Provide a concise explanation on the following system.

91. Explain why agribusiness is an essential part of economic system?

- Agribusiness is an essential part of economic system because it involves all the

steps required to send an agricultural good to market, namely production,
processing, and distribution. This industry is an important component of the
economy in countries with arable land since agricultural products can be exported.
Financing agribusiness can increase the added value of raw materials,
strengthening local rural economies, food security and nutrition, and improving
the quality of life in many homes at risk of exclusion and vulnerability. It is also a
term used to describe the sector that encompasses all economic activities that are
related to farming, i.e., chemicals, breeding, crop production/farming, farm
machinery, distribution, marketing. They involve a marketing, and sales.

92. Explain the following statement. “ Only one thing that can bring our nation
down- our dependence on foreign countries for food and energy. Agriculture is
the backbone of our economy.’’- John Salazar, Colorado Commissioner of
Agribusiness.

- No farms, no food. No farms in rural communities, no wealth generated to

support communities. No wealth, no investment to build facilities to manufacture
or process farm products. No food manufacturing, no convenience. No
convenience, fewer mouths fed. Fewer mouths fed, less revenue generated. Less
revenue, less incentive for farmers to plant. Less planted, less to harvest, food
prices rise. Food prices rise, customers shop for alternatives. No money flowing, no
alternative products. Etc., etc…

In short My Life (and yours) depends on Agriculture.

93. Identify one agribusiness firm and describe what makes it an agribusiness
and how it operates in agribusiness system.

- Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc. (BAVI), also known as Bounty is a poultry

company based in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines. As the main company of the
Bounty Fresh Group of Companies, from the name of the company itself “Bounty
Agro Venture Inc.” it answers the question “What makes it an Agribusiness?”.
Because it manages roast chicken retail chains Chooks-to-Go and Uling Roasters,
Reyal Litson Manok, Adobo Connection, and HeiHei.

Bounty Fresh Chicken is a brand under Bounty Fresh Food Inc. and Bounty Agro
Ventures Inc. that supplies dressed chicken to various hotels, restaurants,
institutional food companies (HRI) as well as supermarkets in the Philippines

Bounty’s story started during the 1980s when the Chen family put up one layer
house in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, Philippines and loaded the first 5,000 heads of
chicken.

From a 5,000-head layer farm, the business grew to be one of the largest broiler
integrators in the country. It is the only fully-integrated poultry company that has
continuously invested in company-owned facilities – Grand Parent farm, Parent
Stock farm, Hatcheries, Dressing Plants, Feed Mills, and Cool-cell Broiler
Complexes in the Philippines.

To cater the consumers in the various regions and islands of the archipelago;
Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. (BAVI) was integrated to operate in several branches
across the country. Each of its branches ties up with business partners for contract
growing, contract breeding, toll hatching, toll feed milling and toll dressing.
Technical assistance and supervision, training, and transfer of technology are
provided to its business partners to maintain product quality and consistency. In
2008, BAVI started its most ambitious project yet – the company’s venture into the
take away segment through its chicken rotisserie outlets by processed meat
products; roasted pork belly, dressed chicken and other derivative products. In just
two years, with the aggressive promotional efforts poured into the rotisserie
outlets, Chooks-to-Go is considered the dominant market leader in the rotisserie
business with close to 1000 outlets.

Vision

We do more to bring happiness to families through life’s bounty.

Mission

We make food exciting. Everyday. Everywhere!

94. Explain the difference between agricultural commodity and food products.

Give 5 examples each.

- Agricultural commodities- are generic, undifferentiated products that, since

they have no other distinguishing and marketable characteristics, compete with
one another on the basis of price. While
- Food product - a substance that can be used or prepared for use as food.
foodstuff. food, nutrient - any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to
give energy and build tissue. starches - foodstuff rich in natural starch (especially
potatoes, rice, bread) breadstuff - flour or meal or grain used in baking bread.

5 examples of Agricultural Commodities

1. soybeans,
2. sugar beets,
3. sugar cane,
4. tomatoes,
5. grain sorghum
5 examples of Food Products.

1. Chips, crisps, corn snacks, nuts and seeds.

2. Beverages.
3. Nutritional Drinks.
4. Biscuits.
5. Canned (tinned) foods.

95. Differentiate agribusiness product from other forms of products by describing

the features and characteristics of agricultural products.

- The production and marketing of agricultural goods poses certain peculiar

problems for the producers. This is mainly because the agricultural goods possess
certain peculiar characteristics. These are as follows:

Characteristics of Agricultural Goods

1. Agricultural goods are quickly perishable.

2. These are bulky in nature.

3. It is difficult to control both quality and quantity of output.

4. Product differentiation is not possible.

5. Nature plays a crucial role in production.

6. Agricultural goods have inelastic demand.

- Note the different quality criteria that can be applied to foods. For example
in a buzz group, ask participants what is meant by food quality, elicit the following
categories from the participants and write on a flipchart:

· Sensory Quality:

Colour, flavour, texture, size, shape, appearance, freedom from defects.

· Nutritional Quality:

Vitamins, minerals, protein, energy as carbohydrate or fat, fibre content. Anti-

nutritional quality (pesticide residues, toxins such as heavy metals, naturally
occurring antinutritional factors such as cyanide complexes in cassava, enzyme
inibitors in some vegetables etc.).

· Quality Expressed as Financial Value:

This depends in part on each of the above factors, but more importantly on the
demand for a food versus the available supply.

· Microbiological Quality:

If necessary explain the differences between bacteria, yeasts and moulds, the
difference between safe and pathogenic micro-organisms, microbial toxins.

Explain why quality characteristics are important (e.g. for setting up quality control
procedures, for marketing, for deciding correct production methods).

96. Explain the role that management plays in the overall success of agribusiness
firms.

- Management plays the role of Agribusiness managers which analyze and

figure out marketing strategies, hire and mentor the workers of the farm and may
also perform some of the farming duties themselves. They are also responsible in
planning where and how much to sell the crops and livestock.

97. Explain how the four functions of management work together to make an
agribusiness firm success.

1. Planning

One main role of a manager is creating a plan to meet company goals and
objectives. This involves allocating employee resources and delegating
responsibilities, as well as setting realistic timelines and standards for completion.
Planning requires those in management roles to continuously check on team
progress in order to make small adjustments when necessary, while still
maintaining a clear picture of a company's larger aims and goals.

2. Organizing

Along with planning, a manager's organizational skills can help to ensure a

company or departmental unit runs smoothly. From establishing internal
processes and structures to knowing which employees or teams are best suited for
specific tasks, keeping everyone and everything organized throughout daily
operations are important functions of management.

3. Leading

Managers should be comfortable and confident commanding their team members’

daily tasks as well as during periods of significant change or challenge. This
involves projecting a strong sense of direction and leadership when setting goals
and communicating new processes, products and services, or internal policy.

4. Controlling

To ensure all of the above functions are working toward the success of a company,
managers should consistently monitor employee performance, quality of work,
and the efficiency and reliability of completed projects. Control (and quality
control) in management is about making sure the ultimate goals of the business
are being adequately met, as well as making any necessary changes when they
aren't.

98. Interview a livestock raiser or a crop producer. Ask his her job roles and daily
activities in managing the agribusiness.

Livestock farmers breed and raise cattle—including bulls, cows, and steers, which
are neutered bulls—for the meat and leather industries. Purebred cattle farmers
breed registered cows and bulls. They work to improve strains of cattle so the best
cattle is sold to the meat industry. Purebred farmers also sell their cattle to
ranchers who wish to strengthen their own herds. Ranchers lease public
rangeland, or grazing land, from the state or federal government to raise cattle.
They allow herds of cattle to roam these large tracts of land where they graze on
wild plants. During roundup the ranch hands drive the animals together and count
the herd. They also select the animals to be sent to the meat market.

99. By using internet sources. Choose one agricultural or food product and
outline the market for that product over the next ten years.

I. Last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) projected that the country's
palay production would total 19.44 MMT, comprising of the actual harvest of 11.9
MMT, from January to September 2020, and a projected yield of 7.54 MMT in the
fourth quarter, based on standing crop on November 1, 2020. Rice production in
the Philippines is an important aspect of the country's food supply and economy.
The Philippines is the 8th largest rice producer in the world, accounting for 2.8% of
global rice production. The Philippines was also the world's largest rice importer in
2010.

II. The Philippines recorded its highest rice production level at 19.44 million metric
tons (MT) in 2020. This figure, which is higher than the 18.81 million MT produced
in 2019 and the 19.07 million MT recorded in 2018, was achieved despite the
major typhoons that hit several provinces and the COVID-19 pandemic.

III. More on rice production in the Philippines:

A physician-turned-farmer with a mission to modernize rice farming

A medical doctor who is also a farmer not only adopted the laser land leveling
technology but piloted a service provision model for it—a first of its kind in the rice
granary region of the Philippines. His story outlines the next steps that optimize
partnership and active engagement of key players to ensure sustainable uptake of
mechanization initiatives in the country.

IV. Increasing national rice yields to 6 tons/hectare in the Philippines and

elsewhere

While these remarks are specific to the Philippines, they equally apply to all
countries currently mired at an average yield of some 4 tons per hectare. Whereas
high-yielding varieties emanating from the International Rice Research Institute
had a sudden and large impact beginning in the mid-1960s, yield improvement in
subsequent decades has come largely from farmer initiatives with little
contribution from research. The increase in yield to something over 2 tons per
hectare attributed to IR8 and subsequent semidwarf varieties is well known.

V. The SRP in the Philippines: “We now know that we are eating safe rice”

Pilot testing of the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) standard in the province of
Iloilo has shown Filipino farmers’ strengths in managing their farms in a
sustainable manner as well as opportunities to improve their current practices to
achieve sustainable rice cultivation. In the 2016 wet season, SRP-trained
agricultural extension workers, farmer technicians, Better Rice Initiative Asia
coordinators, and staff from the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office in
Region 6 monitored the participating farmers in four municipalities from April to
September. The monitoring gauges whether farmers’ practices are sustainable
based on the SRP standard.

100. Access the internet and locate a research study on agribusiness. Copy or
print the abstract or research summsry.

The World Bank has carried out a study on agribusiness, logistics, and
infrastructure for growth in Mindanao. Funded by the Australian Agency for
International Development, the study aimed to understand better why the
Philippines, with its well-educated human capital and diverse natural resource
base, significantly lags behind the rest of East Asia in per capita growth. Some rural
areas with high agricultural potential, such as Mindanao and, to some extent, the
Visayas, also lag behind the rest of the Philippine economy. The study sought to
understand how the Philippines could improve its competitiveness in agribusiness
and agriculture commodity markets, areas where Mindanao enjoys strong
comparative advantages. The study analyzed the constraints affecting the
performance of agricultural value chains in Mindanao, particularly in terms of
infrastructure and logistics. The agricultural commodities selected were corn and
bananas because of their economic weight at regional and national levels.
Mindanao, especially the Bukidnon plateau, is a major producer of white and
yellow corn. The study focused on yellow corn, which is grown mainly for animal
feed and used in milled and non-milled varieties. Mindanao is also the country's
main banana producing region, both for export and for the domestic market.
Region eleventh (the Davao region) is the leading banana producer and supplier of
export-quality bananas in the country. In recent years, the Philippines have
become the world's second top exporter of Cavendish bananas.

Citation

“World Bank. 2010. Philippines : Study on Agribusiness, Infrastructure, and

Logistics for Growth in Mindanao. Washington, DC. © World Bank.
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/18530 License: CC BY 3.0
IGO.”

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18530