THE total value of production in agriculture and fisheries sector grew by 2.1 percent in the first quarter of the year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.
The PSA said at constant 2018 prices, the value of production amounted to P428.69 billion, up from last year’s P419.96 billion.
“This was due to the annual increases in the value of production of crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries,” PSA undersecretary and national statistician Dennis Mapa said.
Value of crops which reached P247.76 billion posted an increase of 1.7 percent from the P243.65 billion a year ago.
The total value of livestock production also expanded by 4.1 percent to P61.65 billion from P59.21 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
Value of poultry production which amounted to P64.94 billion, went up by 3.2 percent from the previous year’s P62.96 billion, while fisheries production slightly rose to P54.32 billion from P54.14 billion.
In terms of volume, the PSA said both palay and corn production expanded by 5.2 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.
Hog and cattle production also grew by 5.1 percent and 1.9 percent.
Decreases, however, were seen in the production of carabao (-1.2 percent), goat (-3.6 percent), and dairy (-11.4 percent).
The PSA said chicken production grew by 3.3 percent, chicken eggs by 2.8 percent, and duck eggs by 3.8 percent.
Increases in the production of milkfish, tilapia, yellowfin tuna, squid, alimasag, and lapu-lapu were also reported during the quarter.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort attributed the agriculture growth during the quarter to better weather conditions.
“Furthermore, higher prices globally and locally led to higher prices of some agricultural products, thereby also partly adding to the year-on-year growth in terms of value,” he said.
Ricafort said the faster growth in agricultural output would help support faster economic growth.
“The government’s continued intervention measures on agriculture, such as through increased mechanization, use of higher yielding seeds that are more resilient, better irrigation facilities, more cold storage facilities, more infrastructure such as farm-to-market roads, better logistics, among others, would still help support continued growth in agriculture to further boost local output, reduce importation, bring down local food prices and overall inflation,” he said.
Ricafort said these interventions will also help in preparing for El Niño which could potentially reduce agricultural output and lead to increase in agricultural prices. (PNA)/PN
