Government ready to hire 23K agriculturists for new DA bureau

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December 7, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The head of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said the government would soon need 23,000 licensed agriculturists for its new bureau, opening up opportunities for new graduates and professionals to join the country’s farm and fisheries sector.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said he has already discussed the requirement with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), noting that the figure represents a fixed number the DA must add.

“So, our request is to return to the curriculum of state universities the course for agriculturists,” Tiu Laurel told reporters.

He said CHED’s initial response was “very positive” and that officials were “delighted” at the prospect of strengthening agricultural programs.

Tiu Laurel noted that having enough extension workers on the ground would significantly improve the DA’s data collection, monitoring and program delivery.

“Once we have these extension workers on the ground, all our information will be in real-time. It will be more accurate,” he said, adding that validated field data would strengthen the DA Statistics Office and allow faster implementation of programs.

The agriculture official said the DA plans to entice more licensed agriculturists through attractive salary packages and other incentives to join government service.

“The President is usually very supportive of agriculture. I’m sure that we will find something that will attract our students or other agriculturists to come back to the DA and implement this new system,” he said.

On Tuesday night, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) released the results of the November 2025 Agriculturists Licensure Examination, citing that 6,678 out of 9,742 examinees, or 68.6 percent, passed across 18 testing centers nationwide.

This marked a notable improvement from the 2024 results, when only 3,628 of 7,144 examinees, or 50.8 percent, successfully passed the board exam.

The top performer in this year’s exam was Aira Joy Maralit Anyayahan of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), who earned a score of 92.18 percent.

The top-performing school among institutions with more than 100 examinees was also UPLB, with a passing rate of 99.37 percent

Meanwhile, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University in Bacnotan achieved a perfect 100 percent passing rate for schools with 40 to 99 examinees.