Agriculture production in the country dropped 3.3 percent in the first quarter of the year due to the slowdown in the livestock and poultry subsectors, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Despite the drop, the value of agricultural production at current prices rose 8.2 percent to P484.8 billion.
Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar said the poor performance of the hog industry is expected admitting efforts to control the spread of African swine fever (ASF) and repopulate cleared areas “are yet to bear fruits.”
The livestock subsector, which contributed 14.2 percent to the total agricultural production, contracted by 23.2 percent in the first quarter. At current prices, gross value of livestock production amounted to P82.1 billion, up 10.8 percent from last year.
Double-digit declines in production were registered for hog at 25.8 percent to 421,790 metric tons (MT) from 568,670 MT, and cattle at 10.2 percent to 54,430 MT from 60,620 MT.
Contractions in production were also posted for carabao by 7.4 percent to 27,590 MT, goat by 6.7 percent to 16,510 MT and dairy by 1.5 percent to 6,350 MT.
The poultry subsector posted a 7.4 percent drop in output for the quarter, accounting for 13.3 percent of total agricultural output. The gross value of its output went up by 10.6 percent to P69.1 billion at current prices.
Duck and chicken posted lower production by 11.6 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively. For the period, duck was at 7,980 MT from 9,030 MT while chicken slumped to 402,770 MT from 568,670 MT.
Other contributors of the sector, particularly chicken eggs, went up by 3 percent to 152,550 MT from 148,179 MT, as duck eggs climbed by 0.7 percent to 11,450 MT from 11,370 MT.
Production in the crops subsector grew by 3.3 percent during the quarter and contributed 58.8 percent to the total agricultural production. At current prices, the subsector grossed P267 billion, 7.2 percent higher than last year’s gross receipts.
Increases in production were registered for palay at 8.6 percent to 4.63 million MT from 4.26 million MT, and corn at 6.5 percent to 2.45 million MT from 2.3 million MT.
Improvements in production were also recorded for coffee, cacao, mongo, pineapple, mango, rubber, ampalaya, tomato, eggplant and banana.
However, contractions were noted in potato, abaca, onion, cabbage, cassava, tobacco, sugarcane, calamansi, sweet potato and coconut.
The fisheries subsector slightly went up, by 0.6 percent, during the period and contributed 13.7 percent to the total agricultural output. At current prices, the subsector grossed P66.6 billion, up 6.4 percent from last year’s gross earnings for the period.
Double-digit increases in production were noted for mudcrab, skipjack and sapsap while single digit improvements were booked for tamban, talakitok, tilapia, matangbaka, milkfish and tiger prawn.
Lower production was recorded for fimbriated sardines, bisugo, yellowfin tuna, grouper, tulingan, galunggong, squid, seaweed, alumahan, tambakol and blue crab.
Dar said the DA, local government units, veterinary firms, the academe as well as the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines – that are lending P30 billion and P12 billion, respectively, to commercial swine raisers in ASF-free areas – are working together to support the local hog industry.
“We will continue to implement our Plant, Plant, Plant program that is mainly focused on increasing our basic food commodities like, rice, corn, vegetables, livestock, poultry and fisheries comprising more than 70 percent of our agricultural GVA (gross value addition),” he said.
Dar added focus will also be given to the coconut subsector to increase its contribution of 4 percent to total agricultural GVA. Coconut is the country’s top agriculture export product.
