DA foresees Q4 agricultural output growth

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s agricultural output could grow in the fourth quarter of the year due to more favorable weather conditions, according to an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“Based on the initial data that we are seeing, it is possible that it will increase because we have no major calamity, not so much typhoons,” Agriculture assistant secretary and spokesperson Arnel de Mesa said in Filipino during a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview yesterday.

He also noted favorable production in the country’s crops sector.

“We expect that the growth of the livestock and poultry sub sectors will continue and hopefully we can recover in the fisheries sector because in the third quarter, this was the subsector with the largest decline,” De Mesa said.

“We’re hoping that in the fourth quarter, the sector will really recover,” he said.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the country’s farm production declined by 0.3 percent in the third quarter, due to lower outputs in the crops and fisheries sector, marking the second consecutive quarter that farm production declined.

In July to September, the value of agriculture and fisheries production amounted to P412.41 billion from July to September.

The 0.3 percent decline was lower than the 1.2 percent drop in the second quarter, but a reversal of the 1.6 percent growth recorded in the same quarter last year.

PSA data also showed that from January to September, the farm output inched up by 0.2 percent.

In an earlier statement, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said the farm sector was showing signs of recovery despite the slight contraction in the third quarter.

“As we look at the data more closely, we could see positive signs in the rice, corn, and onion harvest, as well as in our production of tilapia and galunggong – all important food items for the Filipino masses,” he said earlier.

“With the growth numbers in the first three quarters, we remain optimistic agriculture could still contribute positively to the broader economy,” he said.