Agriculture output grows nearly 3% in Q3 — PSA report

 
Agriculture output grew by 2.98 percent in the third quarter of the year, a turn around from -0.06 percent a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.

“At current prices, gross value of agricultural production amounted to P360.9 billion, higher by 7.33 percent than last year’s record,” the PSA said.

Increases in crops, livestock, and poultry subsectors drove the third quarter performance.

The crops subsector, which accounted for 45.63 percent of the total, grew by 5.24 from -4.72 percent.

Palay output increased by 16.35 percent, and corn production by 10.61 percent.

Improvements in production were also recorded for pineapple, tobacco, abaca, mongo, cassava, tomato, cabbage and eggplant, the statistics office said.

“At current prices, the subsector grossed P196.9 billion or 13.78 percent more than the previous year’s gross receipts,” it noted.

The livestock subsector, which contributed 18.61 percent, increased by 3.89 percent from 3.18 percent.

Hog, a major contributor to the subsector’s output, registered a 4.55 percent growth. “The gross value of output amounted to P59.8 billion, representing an increase of 2.29 percent from last year’s record,” the PSA said.

The poultry subsector, which shared 17.15 percent of the total, registered a 2.43 percent growth. The subsector grossed P49.2 billion at current prices. This was 3.61 percent higher than last year’s record, according to the statistics office.

The fisheries subsector contracted by 2.53 percent. However, its share to total output was a significant 18.61 percent.

Major gainers were milkfish and skipjack with production increases at 3.88 percent and 10.29 percent, respectively. At current prices, the subsector grossed P55.1 billion or 3.94 percent lower than last year’s earnings.

On the average, prices received by farmers went up by 4.22 percent. Price increases were recorded by the crops subsector at 8.12 percent, and the poultry subsector at 1.15 percent.

On the other hand, prices in the livestock and fisheries subsectors went down by 1.54 percent and 1.45 percent, respectively. — Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News