DA: Agri grows nearly 10% despite major storms

Philippine agriculture grew by 9.55 and 0.33 percent in terms of value and volume respectively since January, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Friday.

 

Citing a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the DA said that agriculture managed to grow even after damage caused by recent storms due to a boost in the crops and livestock subsectors.

 

Because of this, national agricultural output grossed P1.1 trillion at current prices on the back of better prices paid to food producers in the crops, livestock and poultry subsectors.

 

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala welcomed the report and said this showed the need to continue finding ways to serve stakeholders.

 

“Kailangan ang interventions at programa sa ibaba, tuloy-tuloy lang, at ating pag-iibayuhin kung kinakailangan,” Alcala said.

 

Crops and livestock

 

Palay production reached 11.41 million metric tons from the period of January to September, a 0.41-percent increase from last year’s output.

 

Corn production also increased by 0.07 percent to 5.93 million metric tons during the same period.

Meanwhile, production in high-value crops like mango, cassava and sugarcane also went up.

 

Sugarcane expanded by 7.09 percent due to the increased yield from the efficient use of fertilizer and favorable weather conditions in Negros Occidental, the DA said.

 

Mango harvest increased by 9.09 percent as more voluntary flowering, less fruitfall and increased bearing trees were noted in the Ilocos region in the second quarter of the year.

 

Cassava also continued its production increase with a notable 8.92-percent growth.

 

Overall, the crops subsector which contributed 51.03 percent to the total agricultural production grew by 1.2 percent.

 

The livestock subsector expanded by 1.05 percent in terms of output on the back of growth in the production of hog (1.2 percent), carabao (0.15 percent), cattle (0.46 percent) and dairy (2.01 percent).

 

Poultry and fisheries

 

On the contrary, the poultry and fisheries subsectors suffered decreases following damage from major storms.

 

Poultry output dropped by 0.74 percent while the harvest of chicken and duck eggs went down by 5.31 percent and 0.91 percent, respectively.

 

The fisheries subsector also fell by 1.8 percent in output due to low harvest of milkfish (-2.59 percent), tiger prawn (-4.87 percent) and seaweed (-4.37 percent). — Andrei Medina/JDS, GMA News