Agriculture output shrinks 5% in Q1

The country’s agriculture sector had suffered from a decline of nearly five percent in the first quarter as it had to endure the unfavorable impact of prolonged El Niño, even if it hadn't fully recovered yet from the damage caused by typhoons that hit the country in the latter part of last year.

A data from Philippine Statistics Authority-Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (PSA-BAS) revealed on Friday that agriculture posted a 4.53 percent drop in production in the first three months of 2016, compared to last year where the sector performed a growth of 1.49 percent.

The sector, according to the data, was particularly dragged down by two subsectors – crops and fisheries.

"The output increments in the livestock and poultry subsectors were not enough to offset the downturn in the performance of the crops and fisheries subsectors due to prolonged dry spell and damages caused by Typhoons 'Lando' and 'Nona'," PSA-BAS said.

Until now, El Niño is still being felt across many parts of the country, while some areas have not yet fully recovered from the onslaught of Typhoon Nona and Typhoon Lando that hit the country in December and October last year, respectively.

Gross earnings of the entire sector amounted to ₱ 375.2 billion at current prices, which is 1.49 percent lower than the ₱ 380.1 billion recorded in the same period in 2015.

The crops subsector, which contributed 52.06 percent to the total agricultural output, shrank by 8.55 percent.

Of this, palay and corn registered output losses of 9.97 percent and 19.07 percent, respectively, while production gains were recorded by cassava, tobacco, abaca, pineapple, coffee, sugarcane and mongo.

The subsector grossed ₱ 211.1 billion at current prices. This represented a 3.50 percent decline from the previous year’s earnings.

The fisheries subsector, on the other hand, fell hard by 5.11. while contributing 14.92 percent to the total agricultural output.

"Lower production levels were noted for the major fish species," the government said.

At current prices, the subsector grossed ₱ 51.9 billion, down by 5.43 percent from the

last year’s earnings.

Livestock production, on the other hand, expanded by 4.66 percent, accounting for 17.18 percent of total agricultural output.

Hog, as the main growth catalyst, came up with a 5.47 percent increase in production.

At current prices, the subsector’s gross value of output amounted to 160.0 billion which was 1.23 percent higher than last year’s record.

The poultry subsector, which recorded a 15.85 percent share in the total agriculture production, also grew by 1.01 percent as all of its components recorded output gains except for chicken.

The subsector’s gross earnings at current prices amounted to 152.2 billion and indicated an 8.85 percent improvement this year compared to the same period last year.

On the average, farmgate prices increased by 3.19 percent in the first three months of the year.

"Price uptrends were observed in the crops and poultry subsectors with respective gains of 5.51 percent and 7.77 percent. On the other hand, price downtrends were recorded in the livestock subsector at 3.27 percent and in the fisheries subsector at 0.33 percent," PSA-BAS noted.