Farm, fishery output shrink as El Niño hits

From April to June

MANILA, Philippines — The value of the country’s agriculture and fisheries output in the second quarter contracted by 3.3 percent as crops and livestock production dropped due to the ill effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon.

The sector’s production in the April to June period amounted to P413.91 billion, about P14 billion lower than the P427.948 billion recorded in the same period last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

“This was due to the annual decreases in the values of crops and livestock production during the period,” the PSA said yesterday.

The value of crops output, which accounted for half of the entire agriculture and fisheries production, fell by 8.6 percent to P220.04 billion.

The PSA recorded contractions across the value of 20 crops during the reference period, with sugarcane posting the steepest decline at 42.3 percent.

The production of palay, the primary crop of the country, fell by 9.5 percent year-on-year while corn output declined by 20.3 percent during the reference period.

The other crops that saw contraction in value of production were onion (-37.4 percent), tomato (-15.6 percent), mung beans (-14 percent), abaca (-12.4 percent), rubber (-7.5 percent), cassava (-7.2 percent), eggplant (-7 percent), sweet potato (-5.8 percent) and bitter gourd (-5.1 percent).

Government officials and industry stakeholders earlier noted that a contraction in the domestic crops performance was expected given the threats posed by the dryer and hotter weather conditions caused by El Niño.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) recorded P15.3 billion in damage and losses in the agriculture and fisheries sector because of the ill effects of El Niño, with a volume loss of about 784,000 metric tons across 270,855 hectares of land.

According to the DA, more than 333,000 farmers and fishermen were affected by the extreme weather condition.

The PSA said livestock output dipped to P63.33 billion in the second quarter from P63.505 billion in the same quarter last year.

Annual decreases were observed in the production of goat, carabao and hogs at 2.7 percent, 2.4 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, the PSA said.

Meanwhile, the value of poultry production in the second quarter grew by 8.7 percent year-on-year to P70.15 billion, with the sector contributing almost 17 percent of the total value of agriculture and fisheries production.

Fisheries output, which accounted for 14.6 percent of the sector’s entire production, increased by 2.2 percent to P60.397 billion, according to the PSA.

The country’s agriculture and fisheries output in the first half contracted by 1.5 percent, a reversal of the 0.4 percent growth recorded in the same period last year.

The DA said the contraction in farm and fisheries output in the second quarter was cushioned by the expansions in the poultry and fisheries industries. The DA vowed to intensify efforts to help farmers cope with the El Niño-induced challenges.

“The Philippine agriculture sector has demonstrated resilience, bolstered by strategic interventions from the Department of Agriculture, in the face of challenges posed by the adverse impact of El Niño on crop harvest and the stubborn African swine fever on hog production, particularly during the second quarter,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary and spokesman Arnel de Mesa said in a statement yesterday.

The DA has rolled out various measures to address the El Niño-related challenges, such as P14.54 billion cash assistance to rice farmers and earmarking of P350 million for procurement of vaccines against African swine fever.

“The department’s proactive approach aims to mitigate the impact of adverse weather conditions and strengthen the sector’s capacity to rebound,” De Mesa said.

“The support measures are designed to enhance productivity and support farmers, demonstrating the DA’s commitment to sustaining agricultural growth and stability despite external challenges,” he added. –  Bella Cariaso