PHL agriculture sector grows 3.3% in Q1

(Updated 5:03 p.m.) Agriculture grew by 3.3 percent to P352.5 billion in the first quarter of the year, with the crops, fishery, poultry and livestock subsectors expanding in January to March, the Department of Agriculture said Friday. Citing preliminary data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said the crops subsector, which accounts for 54.1 percent of agriculture output, grew by 3.6 percent. Paddy rice production was up 4.45 percent, and corn increased by 11.43 percent, according to BAR data, the Agriculture chief noted. Farmers harvested 4.17 million metric tons (MMT) of palay valued at P66 billion, and 2.25 MMT of corn valued at P27.8 billion. “Our efforts are paying off, and we hope to attain our sufficiency targets by year-end,” Alcala noted. “For these achievements, we thank our country’s farmers and fishers for their continuous hard work and perseverance, and strong cooperation of local government units and the private sector,” he said.   Early planting, enough irrigation water, and hybrid rice and corn seeds, plus wider areas planted helped increase yields, the Agriculture chief said. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. research head Ildemarc Bautista said the expansion may simply be a result of the year-earlier's tepid growth, noting the sector grew by only 1.08 percent in the first quarter of last year. "That's welcome news, but it might be just base effects," he told GMA News Online. Sill, Bautista said "we might see a better year for agriculture," barring any negative developments. "We've always been pushing for more agriculture activity. What has affected us are natural calamities,"  Bautista said. "Without any of that this year, we should see some growth," he added. Last year, farm production grew 2.92 percent, up from 2.34 percent in 2011 but short of the Agriculture department's 3-percent to 5-percent full-year expectations. Other major crops also helped lift farm output in the first three months of the year, including pineapple (+5.8 percent), mango (+4.5 percent), tobacco (+4 percent), sugarcane (+2.5 percent), and onions (+8.5 percent).   Fisheries, which accounted for 16.3 percent of agriculture output, grew by 5.6 percent, largely on aquaculture species like milkfish or bangus and tilapia. The value the subsector output reached P59.5 billion.   Higher catch of the marine species round scad or galunggong and tuna also helped the fisheries output, a result of the conservation measures imposed in the Zamboanga and the Visayan Seas, as well as the lifting of the tuna ban in the Pacific Ocean. The poultry subsector, which accounts for 14.4 percent of total production, grew by 2.8 percent. The value of production was placed at P45.8 billion. The subsector was led by the 3.3 percent growth in chicken output worth P34.6 billion.   Contributing 15.3 percent to total output, the livestock subsector barely grew by 0.3 percent with total production valued at P54.3 billion. The hog industry grew by 0.36 percent, valued at P44.87 billion. — With a report by Sieg Alegado/VS, GMA News