DA: Ban on raw ‘ube’ export likely until 2028
The government’s ban on raw ube exports will “more or less” remain in place until the end of the Marcos administration in 2028 as the Department of Agriculture (DA) seeks to multiply the country’s planting area for the prized root crop.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the agency intends to spend the next year, and possibly another year after that, building up the country’s supply of “ube” planting materials amid heightened demand overseas.
This means the indefinite ban imposed in September would likely remain until 2028. The restriction covers raw ube and propagative planting materials, whether shipments are intended for consumption, planting or research.
Tiu Laurel said the policy was meant to keep more planting materials at home as the government seeks to ramp up domestic production.
Ube is typically grown using cuttings from existing tubers.
The DA has been receiving requests for planting materials from mayors, lawmakers and farmers, according to Tiu Laurel, with some growers having available land but insufficient materials to plant.
Should the ban continue, the agriculture chief said the government expects the area planted with ube to double next year as more planting materials become available. By 2028, he expects ube hectarage to grow fourfold from its current size.
Protection
Beyond addressing domestic supply, Tiu Laurel said restricting raw planting materials from leaving the country was also meant to protect Philippine growers and preserve the country’s competitive advantage in ube.
He warned that allowing local planting materials to be cultivated abroad could eventually enable neighboring countries to grow the same varieties and compete with Philippine producers.
“It’s a competition,” Tiu Laurel said. “If planting material of ube, which is endemic to our country, [goes] to our neighbors … then they become our competitors. Of course, we have to protect our own farmers, our own product, our own identity.”
Tiu Laurel stressed that the restriction does not shut the door on value-added ube exports, citing processed products such as steamed or powdered ube, jam and ice cream.
“We are 100 percent supporting the export of processed ube,” he added.
Ube exports totaled $3.06 million in 2025, according to data from the Department of Trade and Industry, surpassing the $1.4 million recorded by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2024.
Among the main markets for ube are the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
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