Farm sector defies blight, posts gains

We got a creditable second quarter performance of the agriculture sector at 0.5 percent

Despite mobility restrictions and logistics issues across the supply chain due to strict lockdowns to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the country’s agricultural output grew by 0.5 percent in the second quarter, an improvement from the 1.2 percent contraction in the previous quarter.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday reported that the farm sector recovered during the April to June period with productivity gains recorded in crops and fisheries.

It is an uphill target because of the pandemic. We hope to achieve around 1.5 percent.

Given the “creditable” performance of the sector, Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar said the sector is now ready to bounce back and hit its revised annual growth target of 1.5 percent.

“We got a creditable second quarter performance of the agriculture sector at 0.5 percent. We are happy even with this growth as we were expecting a significant contraction. Thanks to our farmers and fishers for their hard work and dedication to continuously produce enough food for the country,” Dar said.

“It is an uphill target because of the pandemic. We hope to achieve around 1.5 percent output rise (by year’s end),” he added.

Bright economic spots

According to Department of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, the continuous flow of food from the country’s farms to consumers was “one of the brightest spots” in the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Dominguez said the DA should maintain a two-percent annual growth target for the agriculture sector to keep it ahead of the country’s population expansion rate, which was estimated at 1.4 percent in 2019 by the PSA.

“The steady growth of our agriculture sector is crucial to achieving stable food prices for all Filipinos,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez noted that despite some weaknesses in the logistic system and the rush of some local government units (LGU) to seal borders during the imposition of community quarantine last March, no food riots and hoarding of supplies have broken out.

Crops as growth driver

In its quarterly report, the PSA said crops registered a 5 percent growth in production. It has a 53.7 percent share in the total agricultural output. Production went up for palay by 7.1 percent and corn by 15.4 percent.

However, livestock production, which accounted for 17.3 percent of the total agricultural output, contracted by 8.5 percent. Hog production also declined by 5.2 percent.

The steady growth of our agriculture sector is crucial to achieving stable food prices for all Filipinos.

Poultry decreased by 4.7 percent in output. It contributed 13 percent to total agricultural production. Production was down for chicken by 7.8 percent.

Fisheries production grew by 0.9 percent, and it shared 16.0 percent in the total agricultural output.

Major fish species such as Bali sardinella, skipjack, and round scad posted output increments at 45.7 percent, 19.6 percent and 18.6 percent, respectively.

At current prices, the value of agricultural production amounted to P439.8 billion. This was 4.6 percent higher than the previous year’s level.

According to PSA data, the farm sector contributes about a 10th of the country’s gross domestic product and a fourth of the country’s jobs.