The Department of Agriculture is seeking P300 million for the initial expansion of ube production, a move expected to at least double output as the Philippines seeks to meet growing global demand for the purple tuber.
The funding will double the area currently planted to ube, and is the initial stage of a broader plan to add 1,000 hectares in the first year.
The Department of Agriculture is budgeting about P850,000 per hectare for the initial rollout for farm development, support facilities, and production, which is timed to the November 2026 harvest and propagation cycle.
“The government wants to develop the industry steadily as Philippine ube gains attention overseas, while avoiding supply and production problems that affected other high-value crops after demand surged.”
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the government wants to develop the industry steadily as Philippine ube gains attention overseas, while avoiding supply and production problems that affected other high-value crops after demand surged.
“We want to steadily develop the ube industry, which has captured global taste buds, so we can limit, if not avoid, the missteps we made with previous high-value crops that drew overseas demand,” Tiu Laurel said.
The program identifies ten varieties for large-scale production.
DA Undersecretary Philip Young, who oversees High-Value Export Crops and Agri-Fishery Export Development and Promotion, said the expansion is part of the department’s effort to build reliable supply chains around export-ready commodities and widen overseas markets for Philippine farm products.
The DA plans to accelerate the supply of planting materials through minisett propagation, alongside tissue culture and single-leaf nodal cuttings.
Mother tubers will be sourced from existing production areas, with selected farmers and cooperatives serving as multiplier farms. Planting materials will be secured to ensure sufficient supply for local production and prevent other countries from using Philippine planting materials to capture the growing global market.
Tiu Laurel clarified that the government’s recently issued policy pertaining indefinitely ban of raw ube exports is not a ban on ube exports as a whole, but specifically targets the export of ube that could be used as planting material.
“I just want to clarify something. There was some news that came out saying that I am banning the export of ube itself. That is not the case,” the agriculture chief said.
“What we are banning is the sale of unprocessed and untreated raw ube that could be used as planting material.”
“To be clear, we are banning the export of ube planting material. Raw ube can simply be cut into pieces and planted, so essentially, what we are banning is the sale of unprocessed and untreated raw ube that could be used as planting material,” the agriculture head explained.
“However, we are 100% or even a million percent in support of exporting processed ube in whatever form,” he concluded.
