Agriculture production surges 1.47% in Q1

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine agriculture grew for the fifth straight quarter buoyed by surge in production in the crops, livestock and poultry subsectors, the government reported Tuesday.

Agricultural production in the first three months of the year met the government’s 1 percent target to rise 1.47 percent, although the latest turnout was the smallest gain recorded in the five consecutive quarters of positive growth.

Coming from a high base of 5.28 percent in the comparable period last year, the Agriculture department said the minimal growth was expected already, The STAR said in a tweet report.

At current prices, gross value of agricultural production stood at P444 billion, 8.94 percent higher than last year’s earnings.

Broken down, the crops production, which accounted for 53.76 percent of total agricultural output, went up by 1.79 percent. Meanwhile, the livestock and poultry subsectors registered 2.11 percent and 5.24 percent growth in output, respectively.

Fisheries production, however, sagged by 4.61 percent.

Agricultural output has historically contributed a tenth to the country’s gross domestic product.

The Philippines Statistics Authority will release the first quarter GDP data on May 10. — with a report from Louise Maureen Simeon