Introduction and Potential of Protected Horticulture in the Philippines: A Review

: Protected agriculture has great potential for the vegetable industry in the Philippines as it allows the application of modern cultivation techniques to mitigate adverse weather conditions and enable farmers to manage pests and diseases efficiently. Thus, to address the increasing demand for food in the Philippines, one strategy to increase vegetable production which is tested and/or proven is through the intensified use of protective structures. This review describes the magnitude and potential of agriculture in the Philippines, focusing on the protected cultivation of horticultural crops. The Philippines is far behind in greenhouse technologies compared to other Asian countries where thousands to millions of hectares are used for protected vegetable cultivation. Several studies have investigated the economic via-bility and applicability of low- and high-cost protective structures in typhoon-prone countries such as the Philippines, demonstrating that protective structures are feasible and profitable. Also, the impact of protected cultivation as compared to the open field has resulted in significantly higher yield and better quality of produce. Hence, the Philippine government with the assistance of the Republic of Korea agreed to improve the country’s flagging vegetable industry and endeavor to attain the status of a food-secure country through the establishment of smart greenhouse technologies. Overall, despite the limitations due to the high cost of electricity and construction protected cultivation facilities including required technologies provide greater advantages for seasonal and off-seasonal vegetable crop production compared to that in the open field. Moreover, such technology can be applied to various geographical locations such as plains, hills, deserts, rural, and urban areas.