December 9, 2010

Philippine agriculture may grow 3.5% by 2011

The Philippine agriculture sector is anticipated to pick up by 2011, posting a potential growth of 2.5% to 3.5%, an agricultural economics expert said Tuesday (Dec 7).

In a year-end briefing on Tuesday (Dec 7), Dr Rolando Dy of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UAP) said corn would continue to be among the top performers next year.

Harvests in the last quarter of 2010 may spill over to the first quarter of 2011, he added.

For corn, Dr Dy forecasts a production growth of 14.5-15.5% topping the 2009 level of seven million tonnes.

According to Dr Dy, the corn production upturn would be due to a rise in area and yield given favourable market prices and weather conditions. He said world corn prices may be high next year which is also prompting the higher local corn production.

For livestock, Dr Dy also sees a minimal growth improvement of 1-2% in 2011.