January 22, 2013

Philippine's 2012 agriculture industry grows by 2.9%

Bannered by the crops, poultry and livestock subsectors, the Philippine's agriculture industry grew by 2.92% in 2012, grossing PHP1.4 trillion (US$34.4 billion) at current prices.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said the crops subsector played a major role, as palay (paddy rice) and corn posted record harvests of 18.03 million tonnes and 7.41 million tonnes, respectively.

Last year's palay harvest was 8.1% more than the 2011 output of 16.68 million tonnes, while corn was 6.25% more than the 2011 level of 6.97 million tonnes.

"Our efforts are paying off, and we would like to implement similar early rice planting and 'Quick-Turn-Around' or QTA scheme and cover more areas this year, and attain our sufficiency target of 20 million tonnes by end of 2013," said the DA chief during a media briefing on January 21, 2013, at the DA central office in Quezon City.