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<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-6/arturo-tanco.webp" alt="Arturo R. Tanco Jr." />
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(Agriculture Minister Arturo R. Tanco Jr.)
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Mr. Tanco joined the Government in 1970, after postgraduate studies in management at Cornell and Harvard Universities.


In 1971 he became Secretary of Agriculture and in 1974 his title changed to Minister of Agriculture in line with the change of form of government, with special responsibility for increasing the production of rice, corn and vegetables. 


Under his management, the Philippines overcame a chronic rice shortage and became a rice exporter. He used print and electronic advertising to encourage farmers to use intensive cultivation. He was Agriculture Minister until 1984, when he resigned after he lost in the election of that year.


Mr. Tanco was elected president of the World Food Council in 1977 and served until 1981. He also promoted the International Fund for Agricultural Development on November 30, 1977, believing it to be an answer to cyclical food shortages.


He helped found the Southeast Asia Research Center for Agriculture and was a director of the International Rice Research Institute, based at Los Banos, Laguna.



Mr. Tanco had a son and two daughters with wife Patricia.



*&nbsp;Some sources say April 18, 1985 , in Manila




Source: 

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Arturo Tanco Jr., 51; A Former Filipino Aide, April 19, 1985, New York Times
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April 19, 1985: Agriculture Minister Arturo R. Tanco Jr. died of cancer