Palay, sugarcare decline but coconuts, bananas, pineapples, coffee post growth

Floods that ravaged palay farms in Davao and changes in harvest schedules in three regions pulled down production output of the agriculture sector in the first quarter of this year, economic officials revealed Thursday.   From 15.6 percent growth January to March last year, palay output declined 1.1 percent, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said.   “Sugarcane likewise posted a decline of 6.5 percent from 26.6 percent growth. Frequent rains during the period hampered harvesting, specifically, in the provinces of Bukidnon, Davao del Sur and Lanao del Sur,” the NSCB said in its 2012 Q1 report on the Philippine economy.   Crop shifting in sugarcane fields in Tarlac and Maguindanao also adversely affected output. The Tarlac tracts switched to palay while the Maguindanao fields to oil palm.

Meanwhile, corn production increased at the slower pace of 5.4 percent from 19.4 percent last year.    “Favorable weather conditions and more usage of hybrid seeds led to area expansion and increases in yield, respectively, in Luzon areas,” the NSCB noted.   The NSCB also said the coconut subsector recovered from the El Niño phenomenon of 2010. Coconut production was boosted further by “greater demand for young coconut due to the onset of summer and the increasing popularity of “buco juice” as health drink leading to the increased harvesting of young coconuts.”   “Banana sustained its growth of 2.0 percent from 2.7 percent registered in 2011,” the government’s lead economic statistics agency said.   “This can be ascribed to the expansion in area harvested, number of bearing trees and bigger fruits in Davao Region, Caraga, Ilocos Region, Northern Mindanao, Central and Eastern Visayas,” the NSCB cited.   Pest infestation and damage from rain showers, according to the NSCB, made mango production decline by 6 percent.   Rains were also a key factor for cassava, which declined by 2.7 percent from a growth of 4.3 percent. In some areas hard-hit by rain, some cassava milling operations were forced to stop.   “Pineapple rebounded to 5.9 percent from a decline of 2.9 percent. This was due to the expansion of area by commercial farms in Northern Mindanao, harvest of bigger fruit sizes Eastern Visayas and Davao Region, and the high demand for pineapple which encouraged more harvesting in Bicol Region,” the NSCB pointed out.   There was a reversal of fortunes for coffee which posted 8.4 percent growth from  a decline of 10.8 percent in last year’s first quarter “with the favorable weather conditions and intensified harvesting due to good demand for Robusta variety.”   More frequent tapping of rubber trees “stimulated by the satisfactory price of rubber” resulted in 7.7 percent growth from 6.4 percent.   “Poultry grew by 7.0 percent from its year ago growth of 3.9 percent due to high demand for roasted chicken in highly urbanized areas of Luzon and Visayas,” the NSCB said.   “Increase in laying flocks and higher egg–laying efficiency ratio were also noted in Central Luzon, CALABARZON, and the Visayan Regions,” it added.   The NSCB cited high demand from home based meat processors, as well as hotels and restaurants in highly urbanized areas of the country, as the impetus for increased livestock output to 3.2 percent from 0.5 percent. Of the 6.4 percent gross domestic product growth of the whole economy, the NSCB said the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing (AHFF)sectors accounted for only 0.1 percentage point of the GDP increase. AHFF output in constant Year 2000 prices was P172.47 billion or 8.7 percent of gross national income in the first quarter of 2012.  — ELR, GMA News