February 11, 2025

 

Philippine agriculture sector's output fell by 2.2% last year due to El Niño

 

 

The El Niño phenomenon had brought down the output of the Philippines' agriculture sector by 2.2% in 2024.

 

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that in the fourth quarter of last year alone, the value of agriculture and fisheries production declined to ₱483.58 billion (US$8.3 billion) from ₱494.25 billion in the same period the previous year. This marked the third straight quarter of contraction in 2024 following a meager increase in the first quarter of last year, leading to the overall 2.2% decline in the vital sector's output in 2024.

 

Over the past six years, the agriculture sector posted annual production declines except in 2023 when it managed to eke out a slim gain.

 

In 2019, output dipped by 0.25%, 1.2% in 2020, 1.7% in 2021 and 0.1% in 2022.

 

Last year, the crops sector, which accounted for 55.7% of overall output, posted a hefty decline of 4.2%.

 

The livestock sector, which contributed 14.6%, also saw its output decline by a slightly bigger 4.3% last year. Fisheries, meanwhile, was down by 1.1%.

 

Only the poultry sector yielded a notable output increase last year of 6.6%.

 

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa primarily attributed the performance of the agriculture sector last year to the substantial damage caused by natural calamities and the El Niño weather phenomenon that is characterised by hotter temperatures and decreased rainfall.

 

"The primary reason is the damage [sustained by the sector] from El Niño, series of typhoons, La Niña… pests and diseases, volcanic eruption and other weather systems," said De Mesa, also the spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture (DA).

 

The farm sector alone suffered ₱57.78 billion (US$1.01 billion) in damage in 2024, surging by 136.4% from ₱24.44 billion (US$$0.43 billion) a year prior, based on data from the DA's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center.

 

"If I look at the data, this is one of the biggest losses recorded in the sector," De Mesa said. "This is one of the biggest damages recorded for a given year in our sector."

 

This affected more than 1.4 million farmers and fishers nationwide last year.

 

The volume of production loss was pegged at 2.19 million metric tons, covering almost one million hectares.

 

Of the total damage, El Niño, characterised by dry weather and decreased rainfall, was blamed for ₱15.66 billion (US$0.27 billion) in production loss or 27.1% of the total damage.

 

The combined effects of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine and Typhoon Leon, on the other hand, wiped out ₱13.47 billion (US$0.24 billion) worth of local produce. Additionally, Typhoons Nika, Ofel, and Pepito caused ₱9.9 billion (US$0.17 billion) in damage.

 

Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) National Manager Raul Montemayor told the Inquirer that the decline in production output was expected given the calamities and animal diseases.

 

"But it points also to the lack of resiliency of the sector. Slow growth during normal times. But vulnerable when calamities and disturbances arise," Montemayor said.

 

FFF board chair Leonardo Montemayor added that he was "very disappointed and worried because it means farmers' incomes likely declined and rural poverty incidence increased."

 

— Inquirer.net