Agricultural Activities
Laguna has 60,624 hectares (149,810 acres) of alienable and disposable agricultural land. About 41,253 hectares (101,940 acres) or 23.44% of Laguna’s total land area is forest land. In 2002, there were 38,445 farms in Laguna. The top five crops produced in Laguna are rice, corn, coconuts, mangoes, and bananas. Other crops grown in the province include Robusta coffee, pineapple, lanzones, rambutan, and sugarcane. Calamba was once the site of a sugar cane mill, although the decline of the sugar industry during the 1970s and 1980s resulted in its eventual shutdown.
Rice farming is an important part of Laguna’s agriculture, with approximately 30,619 ha (306.19 km2) of land used for cultivating 130,904 metric tons (130,904,000 kg) of rice. Los Baños is also the site of multiple research institutions specializing in rice, such as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity (ACB) and the Southeast Asian Regional center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), among others.
Laguna de Bay, with a surface area of 900 kilometres (560 mi), is the province’s main fishing ground producing 410,000 metric tons (410,000,000 kg) of fish. Carp and tilapia fingerlings are also being grown in inland ponds and freshwater fish pens. There are a total of 457 operators utilizing an area of 1,839 ha (18.39 km2) for fish pens and fish cages. Aside from the Laguna de Bay, approximately 12% of the area in the Seven Lakes of San Pablo is being used for aquaculture.
Industry and Commerce
Laguna is home to twenty-one economic zones as registered under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. Most of these economic zones are located in Santa Rosa, Biñan, and Calamba. The largest economic zone in Laguna is the Laguna Technopark, located in Santa Rosa and Biñan, with an area of 337.215 hectares (3.37215 km2). Laguna is home to a large automotive industry, with Toyota Motor Philippines, Nissan Motor Philippines, Honda Philippines Incorporated, and Mitsubishi Motors Philippines all having plants in Santa Rosa.
Laguna has a growing business process outsourcing industry, with companies such as IBM and Convergys establishing offices in Santa Rosa. PEZA lists 4 IT parks and 1 IT Center in Laguna. Business districts and shopping malls continue to arise bringing opportunities and attractive places to dine and relax.
Infrastructure
Road Network
Laguna has a total of 348 kilometers (216 mi) of national roads, all paved. Daang Maharlika (Route 1, AH26), Calamba – Santa Cruz – Famy Road and Manila East Road (Route 66, Route 602), and San Pablo – Calauan Road (Route 67), form the highway network backbone, and secondary and tertiary national roads interconnect most municipalities, with Magdalena only connected by provincial road. Provincial roads serve as a supplement to the national roads, and connects barangay and municipalities not connected to the main network. The highway network is interconnected with nearby provinces and Metro Manila.
The South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) passes through Laguna. A public-private partnership initiative of the national government include plans to build a circumferential road along Laguna de Bay shoreline, the Laguna de Bay Flood Control Dike Expressway (or C-6 Extension), from San Pedro to Siniloan. Some of the proposed road networks is the Calamba-Los Baños Expressway and the Cavite–Laguna Expressway that will connect the provinces of Cavite and Laguna.