Philippine 2008 farm output growth up 3.9 percent

Philippine agricultural output in 2008 slowed to 3.9 percent on-year as the high cost of petroleum-based fertilisers led to lower yields of major crops, the Department of Agriculture said Friday.

Growth was slower than the 4-5 percent target set by the department and compared with 4.6-percent growth in 2007.

The department said that agricultural output in the last quarter of 2008 was up 3.2 percent, substantially lower than the growth rate of 5.4 percent posted a year earlier.

Overall farm output was lifted by significant growth in the fisheries subsector, the best-performing subsector, at 5.9 percent.

The crops subsector posted growth of 4.05 percent from a year earlier even as production of paddy rice and corn were somewhat lower than an earlier forecast.

Paddy rice output improved 3.5 percent to 16.81 million tonnes, lower from both an earlier forecast of 16.88 million tonnes and from the department's output target of 17.3 million tonnes.

Corn output improved 2.8 percent to 6.73 million tonnes, lower than the earlier forecast of 6.95 million tonnes and a target of 7.3 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, the poultry subsector improved 4.7 percent in 2008 from a year earlier following a recovery in chicken production. However, the livestock subsector contracted 1.1 percent, with lower output of hogs.