The country’s agriculture sector has advanced significantly under the nine-year leadership of President Arroyo compared to the combined terms of her two predecessors, Malacañang said Monday.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said the President has posted significant achievements, including high numbers in irrigated farmlands, construction of farm-to-market roads, loans extended to farmers and fishermen, and lower cost of rice.

The nation would be “lucky” if the President’s successor could match her gains in agriculture, according to Olivar.

Olivar made a presentation of the President’s agriculture numbers to contest the remarks of former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno that agriculture was the biggest failure of the Arroyo administration.

“As we will see from just some of her achievements below, if this is what he calls failure, then her successes must be practically supernatural,” he said.

Olivar said a total of 1.6 million hectares of farmlands have been irrigated during the President’s nine years in office, compared to the 345,919 million hectares in the Ramos administration and 515,261 million hectares in the Estrada government. The President’s figures were “more than double the area under the previous two presidents over the same time period.”

Nearly 11,000 kilometers of farm-to-market roads were built during the Arroyo administration, or nearly double under the two previous governments over the same period. The Ramos government constructed 2,659 kilometers of farm-to-market roads while the Estrada administration built 3,214 kilometers of such roads.

Olivar said loans extended by the Arroyo government to farmers and fishermen reached P465 billion by end of 2009, compared to P141,356 released by Ramos and P58,017 extended by Estrada.

The President also distributed 12.7 million bags of certified palay seeds, higher than those released by Ramos (1.89 million) and Estrada (P530,000).

As a result of the intensified investments on agriculture, Olivar said palay production under President Arroyo averaged 14.8 million metric tons annually, compared to 10.4 million under Ramos and 10.9 million under Estrada.

Palay yield also averaged 3.54 metric ton per hectare during the Arroyo administration, compared to 2.87 metric ton under Ramos and 2.92 metric ton under Estrada.

The average rice of rice was also cheaper during the Arroyo administration at P16.28 per kilo using constant 1992 prices, as against P19.04 under Ramos and P18.2 under Estrada.