August 8, 2013

In the first six months of 2013, the Philippine's agriculture industry inched up by 1.44%, driven by the fisheries, poultry, livestock and palay subsectors.

In a press briefing at the 2013 Livestock Expo, the Department of Agriculture revealed agricultural production amounted to PHP697.2 billion (US$16 billion) at current prices, a measly 0.88% increase from last year's record.

The crops subsector, which represented 51.79% of total agricultural output, recorded a 4.30% decline to PHP375.1 billion (US$8.6 billion). Only palay production grew by 1.34%, while production in corn, coconut, sugarcane and banana posted a lower output from January to June.

"We are confident we could attain 100% sufficiency in rice by end of the year, as we continue providing farmers needed irrigation, quality seeds, and technical post-harvest and marketing assistance," Agriculture Secretary Prospero Alcala said.

Although the agency failed to hit its total agricultural production by 3-5% for the first half, Alcala is still optimistic they will reach their goal in the next semester.

Meanwhile, the fisheries subsector, which posted a decline in the first semester in 2012, rebounded this year after a 5.42% growth in the first six months of the year, amounting to PHP123.8 billion (US$2.8 billion). This subsector represents 18.10% of the total agriculture output. Production gains were recorded for round scad (galunggong) at 24.46%, milkfish (7.03%), and tilapia (2.52%).

The livestock production, which contributed 15.53% to the total agriculture production, grew 11.43% to PHP111.8 billion (US$2.6 billion). Hog production increased by 2.36%, while cattle at 2.28%.

The poultry subsector posted a 6.25% increase to PHP86.4 billion (US$2 billion) compared from the same period last year. Poultry production accounted for 14.58% in the total agricultural production, with chicken as the main source of growth.

Alcala noted that the country will export chicken to the United Arab Emirates and to South Korea by the end of this year. The Agriculture Department said farm-gate prices went down by 0.56% in the first semester of 2013, noting that crops prices went down by an average of 3.78%. However, livestock, poultry, and fisheries increased prices at an average of 9.12%, 1.78%, and 0.94%, respectively.