DA counting on late-year grain harvest, livestock to drive 2016 output growth

THE Department of Agriculture has pinned its hopes on the livestock sector and an expected bumper grain harvest this quarter amid favorable weather, with the Agriculture secretary saying he “hopes” for output growth of 7% to 8% in the three months to December, which will be sufficient to drive full-year growth to the mid-single digits.

“Judging from what I have seen, and we are counting on a good harvest, I think production in the last quarter of 2016 was solid, and we will post positive growth. I hope at the end of the year the agriculture sector’s growth will be between 3.5% and 5%,” said Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol in a news conference in Quezon City on Tuesday.

Mr. Piñol said that based on field inspections and his “gut feel” as a farmer, the fourth quarter will be strong in the areas of grains and livestock.

“I’ve been traveling around the country, actually, and I can tell you as a farmer this cropping season will be another bumper harvest,” Mr. Piñol added, noting that the livestock sector will also be a highlight of the fourth quarter.

The growth projection for the year is considerably higher than the 2015 level of 0.11%.

However, Mr. Piñol also added that the farm sector is coming off a first-half decline due to the El Niño-induced dry spell that hit the country earlier this year.

In the three months to September, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that farm output growth hit 2.98%, bringing the sector’s performance in the first nine months of the year to minus 1.53%.

Mr. Piñol noted that to achieve the 2016 projection, growth of about 7% or 8% is needed in the fourth quarter.—