MANILA, Philippines — Philippine agriculture barely grew in the second quarter of the year, although improvements in production were seen in the livestock and poultry subsectors, the government reported Wednesday, a day before the release of April-June economic output data.
Agricultural production expanded by measly 0.07 percent in the second quarter of the year compared to the 6.22 percent growth rate clocked in the same period last year. The latest turnout was the smallest gain recorded in the six consecutive quarters of positive growth.
In the first half, agriculture recorded a 0.58 percent growth in production
Sought for comment, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol told The STAR that his agency is “still happy” with the performance of the country's farm sector.
“We are still happy even with the negligible growth because we are still posting positive performance. It only indicates how volatile and vulnerable the sector is to climate change,” Piñol said.
Broken down, the crops subsector, which accounted for 49.65 percent of the total, registered a 2.08 percent reduction in output, with paddy rice harvest down 1.44 percent.
Livestock and poultry subsectors grew 1.88 percent and 5.14 percent, respectively, but fisheries output contracted 0.05 percent.
Agricultural output has historically contributed a tenth to the country’s gross domestic product.
The Philippines Statistics Authority will release the second quarter GDP data on Thursday, August 9. — with a report from The STAR/Louise Maureen Simeon