FARM output fell by 3.3 percent in the second quarter as contractions in the crops and livestock sectors outweighed poultry and fisheries gains.
The April-June value of production result was a reversal from the 0.2-percent uptick in the first three months of the year and was also worse than the 1.2-percent drop a year earlier, figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed on Wednesday.
The release of the data came ahead of the PSA’s scheduled announcement today of second-quarter economic growth results.
At P413.9 billion, agriculture and fisheries output was lower than the P429.6 billion in January-March and P433.1 billion in April-June last year.
Crops, which accounted for the bulk, or 53.2 percent of the total, contracted by 8.6 percent to P220 billion. The decline worsened from the first quarter’s -0.3 percent, when the sector’s output hit P247 billion.
Palay (unmilled rice), the country’s biggest crop, saw output fall by 9.5 percent to P77.8 billion. Bananas, in second at P37.17 billion, contracted by 20.3 percent.
Sugarcane and onions accounted for the biggest drops of 42.3 percent and 37.4 percent, respectively, at P2.8 million and P1.9 million.
Livestock, with a 15.3-percent or P63.33-billion share of total output, recorded a 0.3-percent dip for the latest quarter as goat, carabao and hog production fell by 2.7 percent, 2.4 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
These offset the 9.7-percent and 0.2-percent gains seen for cattle and dairy.
Poultry, meanwhile, took a 16.9-percent share of total output at P70.15 billion, 8.7 percent higher year on year. Production gains were recorded for all categories in this sector, led by chicken eggs (9.0 percent) and duck (8.9 percent).
The value of fisheries output, lastly, grew by 6.2 percent to P60.4 billion and accounted for 14.6 percent of overall farm production. Gains and losses were about even for all monitored species, with skipjack up the most by 141.2 percent and tiger prawns posting the biggest drop of 40.3 percent.
The Department of Agriculture said that the output results indicated overall resilience amid challenges such as the impact of the El Niño weather pattern and an African swine fever outbreak.
“The department’s proactive approach aims to mitigate the impact of adverse weather conditions and strengthen the sector’s capacity to rebound,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary and spokesman Arnel de Mesa said.
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