Alarming, indeed, but not surprising.

That the number of enrollees for fishery- and agriculture-related courses in universities, particularly state-owned academic institutions, has been on a steady downtrend should not come as a shock in view of the mounting uptrend in Filipinos wanting to find work overseas.

Human resources have become our nation’s biggest exports and they do bid well for keeping our economy afloat, what with their foreign currency remittances contribution almost 10% to the total gross national product, according to data from the Department of Labor and Employment.

Dr. Victoriano Estira, the recently installed president of the Pangasinan State University, however, is to be commended for not simply accepting this reality comfortably sitting down.

And rightfully so because the Philippines remains to be a fundamentally agricultural country, which is why any improvement in the economic statistics, just like that “soaring” 7.4% growth in gross domestic product boasted about by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last week, is not really felt by majority of the population.

Our workers in the agriculture industry the farmers and the fishermen – continue to be among the most marginalized in the country.

Real development, one that will be felt at the grassroots level like in communities near the coast and out there in the fields, will have to be focused towards improving the agricultural sector.

The PSU’s free tuition fee program for deserving fishery course students is one step towards that direction.

And if we are to believe the numbers, there is so much promise here. Based on the latest report of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, the agriculture sector actually grew 4.68% in 2007 with the fisheries sub-sector posting the biggest production gain of 6.81% with gross production value reaching P180.7 billion at current prices.

While the education sector is doing its part for the agriculture sector, the other government agencies need to re-examine their policies in order to create an environment wherein our farmers and fishermen will get their apt share of the progress that the national government has so proudly been harping about.

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