introduction

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

                

           The Philippines, despite its natural coastal landscape, has since been known as an agricultural country having roughly 32% of the total land area as cultivated land scattered all over the Philippine (BAS, 2011). Majority of these cultivated lands is planted with crops and plants used primarily for export which includes coconut (and related products), banana, pineapple, rice and abaca, among others. The Philippines ranked first as the world’s largest producer of abaca and pineapple, and the second largest producer of banana. (FAO, 2010)

               
              Coconut oil comprises the bulk of the country agricultural exports at 26% of the total followed by banana at 9%, centrifugal sugar at 7%, and pineapple at 6% (BAS, 2011). Mindanao, dominates as the top producers of these top agricultural products; Region’s XI and XII serves as the largest producers of coconut (7.4% of total production), banana (90%) as well as of pineapple.

                Aside from its crops and food products and food products, region XII has emerged to become a well-known exporter of aquaculture products, propelled primarily by General Santos City considered as the Philippines’ tuna capital, which has been the city’s moniker since the 1970’s. Proof of such namesake is the city’s seven tuna canning factories each averaging 750 MT (metric tons) of processed tuna per day. As of September 2011, the total catch has reached a voluminous 5,031,566 kilos were about 65% of which went to local consumption while the remaining 35% was used for export. (http://www.gensantos.gov.ph/tuna -industry/)

                However, the annual tuna catch has declined in the recent years due to impart to external factors which climate changes as well as more stringent international laws that prohibit fishing in foreign seas. Luckily, the local government unit was able to devise a way to overcome this economic hump and turned their eyes into other agricultural products that are viable for export. The city’s economy today is sustained through crop production, livestock and poultry industry, fish production and tourism whilst being boosted via exporting capacity of canned tuna chunks, pineapple products, crude coconut oil, fresh asparagus, frozen tuna loins/ fillet/ steak/, fresh pineapple, frozen skipjack.

                General Santos City has been tagged as the” tuna capital of the Philippines” and tuna exporting is the city’s biggest export. The tuna industry adds in excess of 50% to the city’s economy. There is a top of the line Fishport Complex, which also houses refrigeration amenities. Gensan’s agricultural sector is somewhat tough that can be ascribed to the typhoon-free weather that the city enjoys. The major agricultural export commodities of the city include fresh/canned pineapples, rice, asparagus, corn, coconuts, exotic fruits, vegetables, and fruits. These agricultural export products contribute to the city’s economic performance. Agricultural production and exports fluctuate brusquely from year to year. Analyzing export trends in volume and value are basis of the city’s economic performance for the period of 2006-2011.

Statement of the problem

                

                   This research study seeks to lay bare the trends in exports of the selected agricultural products in General Santos City.

1.       What were the trends in export drawn from the volume and value of the selected agricultural commodities in GenSan for the period of 2006-2011?

2.       What products will be categorized in high, average, or low performing goods?

Objective of the study

              

                The world has become a marketplace for many businesses. It provides companies the ability to expand outside their traditional markets. Exporting in General Santos City seems to become mature as years pass by. This study aims to corroborate the recent performance of agricultural exporting in the city in terms of trends in volume and value.

i.                     Classify the agricultural products’ level of performance (units produced and being sold).

ii.                   Provide the data of General Santos City’s agricultural products export trend for the period of 2006-2011.

iii.                  Provide information and update of General Santos City’s performance on the world trade market in its agricultural commodities.

Significance of the study

                This study, Export trend of Agricultural Products in General Santos City is a study to dedicated in analyzing the contemporary trend in the city’s agricultural export industry and furnish trend projections for the

                As to the government, this study will be one of their references in indicating how they will improve the export industry particularly in the agricultural sector. They can implement proper policy from the information the study will give in identifying which agricultural product is the most suitable to be developed from which the local government can gain the largest revenue and taxes. For the exporters, local producers and suppliers, they can gain relevant information and insight on which products belong to the low performance, average performance, and high performance level in terms of the total annual revenue that a particular product generates. Such imperative information on the agricultural products exportation will help local exporters in developing their plan of action regarding which product to improve on or if a shift in the production of a different agricultural commodity would be necessary. Moreover, this study will also serve as a reference for potential investors in determining the most viable agricultural products they can invest to.

               

                Lastly, for the academicians and fellow researchers, this study will gave them good outlook, acquired knowledge and can contribute to industry instructional materials if someday, they too also want to conduct relative study on export industry. Accordingly, it will serve as a reference for the comparative researches.

Scope and Limitation

               

                The focus of this study is on the assessment of the export trend of the agricultural products from General Santos City’s export industries. The assessment on the selected agricultural product’s performance is on monthly basis of the five (5) year trend from 2006 – 2011. The data that will be considered in the analysis are based on volumes, production, value and the demand accounted from each of the agricultural products.

                The group set the limitation of this study into the products that were not within the Genera Santos City’s economic parameters (GenSan’s geographical boundaries).  The trend that will be established will be based only on the export volume and value.  Most of the relevant data of this study will be taken from the Phil-Export and the Bureau of Customs for additional inputs.  

Definition of Terms

Export

                - A function of international trade whereby goods produced in one country is shipped to another country for future sale or trade. The sale of such goods adds to the producing nation's gross output. If used for trade, exports are exchanged for other products or services. Exports are one of the oldest forms of economic transfer, and occur on a large scale between nations that have fewer restrictions on trade, such as tariffs or subsidies.

                - Operationally, it refers to all commodities shipped to another countries that was been properly cleared by the Bureau of Customs in the ports of General Santos City.

Export trend

                - Operationally, it refers to the general direction or movement over a period of five (5) years from 2006- 2011 of a statistically detectable change.

Trade

                - is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person to or entity to another by getting something in exchange from the buyer. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transactions or barter.

                - Operationally, it is the exchange of goods from Gensan to any part of world.

Production

                - is the act of creating output, a good or service which has value and contributes to the utility of individuals.

                - Operationally, it is the output of agricultural commodities in General Santos City which has export value.

Balance of Payments

                - A record of all transactions made between one particular country and all other countries during a specified period of time. As used in this study, it can be defined as the record of all the transactions made between Gensan’s export and all other countries during 2006 – 2011.