DA Moves to Protect Rice Fields From Solar Expansion
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. is pushing a geofencing program to shield around three million hectares of flat agricultural land, mostly rice country, from being converted into solar farms. The Department of Agriculture (DA) wants those boundaries locked in before more solar projects get approved.
Geofencing sets digital boundaries around priority farmland. It gives renewable energy developers a clear signal on where projects should not go. The plan starts by identifying up to 2,000 flat rice areas for protection, then cross-checking that list against solar projects already awarded or in progress to avoid overlap.
The Secretary’s Balancing Act
Tiu Laurel raised the plan directly with Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin, framing it as a balancing act between the country’s solar targets and its food supply. “We need energy security, but it cannot come at the cost of food security,” he said.
Solar plants use up viable flatland fast, and the Philippines’ clean energy targets call for a lot of it. A separate DA update from July detailed further limits, including a cap on developments within highly productive agricultural land below an 8 percent slope. Under that framework, only the President can approve changes to farmland the DA has formally identified.
A Cut for the Farmers
The DA is also pushing for farmers and fisherfolk to benefit directly from the renewable energy shift, through lower electricity costs. The proposal would let RE suppliers under the Green Energy Auction, Green Energy Option, and Retail Competition and Open Access framework connect straight to agricultural users like irrigation systems, rice mills, cold storage plants, and slaughterhouses.
The DOE is currently reviewing how RE suppliers and distribution utilities could take part. Alongside that, the DA and DOE are building a farm-to-energy framework with the Energy Regulatory Commission, aimed at helping organized agricultural groups cut costs and grow income through the energy sector.
Signing in October
The two agencies plan to sign a memorandum of agreement in October to formalize the partnership. Tiu Laurel framed the goal as addressing both energy and food needs without sacrificing one for the other.
