Agriculture production slumped 2.6 percent in the third quarter of the year, pulled by the crops, livestock and fisheries subsectors, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
Farm output fell 2.5 percent in the first nine months despite a 5.2-percent increase in value at current prices to P446.46 billion from the previous year’s level.
Production in the crops subsector went down by 0.2 percent during the quarter and contributed 54 percent to total agricultural production. At current prices, the subsector grossed P231.33 billion, 1.8 percent more than last year’s gross receipts.
Palay production rose 6.5 percent to 3.75 million metric tons (MT) for the quarter from 3.52 million MT in the same period in 2020 while corn experienced almost 19 percent drop to 2.29 million MT from 2.82 million MT.
Other crops which recorded better production for the period include sugarcane, calamansi, tobacco, rubber, coconut, tomato and mango. Declines were recorded by abaca, cabbage, potato, onion, mongo, eggplant, coffee, ampalaya, cacao, sweet potato, cassava and banana.
In the first nine months of 2021, crop production increased by 2.1 percent.
The livestock subsector which accounted for 15.3 percent of total agricultural production declined 15.2 percent in the third quarter. At current prices, gross value of livestock production amounted to P79.71 billion, 13.4 percent higher than last year’s.
Hog, which is the sector’s main driver, declined 17.85 percent to 418,070 MT from 508,910 MT.
Decreases in outputs were also reported for cattle, goat and dairy. Carabao was the only component that grew, reaching 30,390 MT, up by 9.5 percent from 27,740 MT.
In the first nine months of 2021, the subsector’s gross output dropped 19.4 percent.
The fisheries subsector decreased by 0.4 percent during the period and contributed 16.2 percent to the total agricultural output. At current prices, the subsector grossed P70.3 billion, a 10.9 percent improvement compared to last year’s gross earnings for the period.
Decreases in production were noted for bigeye tuna, blue crab, frigate tuna, yellowfin tuna, threadfin bream, slipmouth, skipjack, roundscad, Indian mackerel, Bali sardinella and seaweed.
However, gains in production were registered for mudcrab, milkfish, big-eyed scad, cavalla, fimbriated sardines, squid, tilapia, grouper and tiger prawn.
In the first three quarters of 2021, the subsector’s production went down by 0.5 percent.
The poultry subsector was the only one to post a growth for the period at 1.3 percent, accounting for 14.6 percent of total agricultural output. Its gross value of output also went up by 2.5 percent to P65.13 billion at current prices.
Production growths were observed for chicken eggs at 8.12 percent to 166,820 MT from 154,290 MT and duck eggs at 7 percent to 12,020 MT from 11,230 MT.
However, a 1.36 percent contraction was recorded by chicken to 425,890 MT from 431,770 MT and ducks, down 2 percent to 7,530 MT from 7,690 MT.
From January to September 2021, the subsector recorded a 1.3 percent decline in output.
