Agriculture and fishery production grew 2.3 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, led by gains in the crops, livestock and poultry subsectors, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Wednesday.
“At current prices, gross value of production in agriculture amounted to P382.5 billion. This was 6.27 percent higher than the previous year’s record,” the PSA said.
Data showed that in the first three quarters, agriculture recorded a 4.64-percent growth in output, an improvement from the 1.5-percent decline in the same period last year. The sector’s growth in January to September was supported by the 8.4-percent expansion in harvested crops and 4.6-percent increase in poultry output.
Livestock production grew 0.9 percent in January to September, while fishery output declined 2 percent.
The PSA said that in the third quarter alone, the crops subsector which contributed 46.89 percent to the total agricultural production increased 5.2 percent.
“Production of palay improved by 14.17 percent but that of corn declined by 2.74 percent. Output gains were also noted among the major crops such as coconut, sugarcane, banana, pineapple, tobacco, peanut, mongo, cassava, sweet potato, tomato and rubber,” it said.
The crops subsector grossed P209.8 billion in the third quarter it terms of current prices, up by 7.2 percent from last year’s gross receipts.
Livestock production inched up by 0.91 percent in the third quarter and accounted for 18.37 percent of the total agricultural output. The subsector’s gross earnings amounted to P68.9 billion at current prices and registered an increase of 14.88 percent from last year.
The poultry subsector with its 17.34 percent contribution to the total agricultural output grew 3.41 percent in the third quarter. Chicken and chicken eggs recorded output gains of 2.5 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.
The gross value of poultry production amounted to P47.1 billion at current prices, or 4.32 percent lower than the previous year’s record.
Meanwhile, the fisheries subsector registered a 4.3-percent decline in output in the third quarter and accounted for 17.4 percent of the total agricultural production in the period. The subsector grossed P56.7 billion at current prices, or 3.05 percent higher than last year’s record.
The PSA said prices received by farmers went up 3.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier. Price increments were higher in the livestock and fisheries subsectors at 13.8 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.
Prices in the crops subsector also improved 1.9 percent. Meanwhile, the poultry subsector recorded an average price drop of 7.47 percent.
Farmgate prices increased by an average of 4.19 percent in the first nine months from a year ago.