January 23, 2014
Philippines'' 2013 agriculture growth up 1.15%
The Philippine agriculture expanded by 1.15% in 2013 despite natural calamities that hit the country last year, the Bureau of the Agricultural Statistics (BAS) reported.
However, the country did not hit the government''s target growth for last year.
The BAS, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), said last year''s growth was led by poultry, palay and other agricultural subsectors. In value terms, the industry grew to PHP1.5 trillion (US$33 billion) at current prices.
Corn declined by 0.4%, to 7.37 million tonnes, from 7.4 million tonnes in 2012, due to damage inflicted by Typhoon Gorio on corn farms in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the second quarter, and Super typhoon Yolanda that hit the Visayas on November 8, 2013.
Overall, corn expanded by 0.09% and accounted for more than half, 51.04 %, of the total agricultural output.
Livestock output for last year improved, with production increased by 1.75%, led by dairy at 5.47%, hog at 1.95% and cattle with 1.76%, the DA agency said.
Chicken output expanded by 5.01%, from 1.47 million tonnes to 1.55 million tonnes as poultry growers produced 4.2% more in 2013 than the previous year, the BAS said. The subsector was largely buoyed by the increased demand for roasted chicken in key urban centres nationwide.
Livestock and poultry subsectors registered a combined 31-% improvement to the total agricultural production, with a combined gross value of PHP407.4 billion (US$9 billion) at current prices.
The combined harvests of commercial, municipal and aquaculture sectors increased by 1.23%, from PHP138 billion to PHP139.7 billion (US$3 billion to US$3.1 billion) constant prices, the report also said.
Roundscad (galunggong) and milkfish production grew by 17.03% and 3.7%, respectively, while tilapia was at 3.18% and tiger prawn registered a 2.59-% growth.
In terms of value at current prices, the fisheries sector expanded by 2.78% from PHP232.6 to PHP239.08 billion (US$5.1 billion to US$5.3 billion). With a gross value of PHP239.1 billion (US$5.3 billion) at current prices, the fisheries sector shared nearly one-fifth, or a 17.96-% share, to the total output.
The year 2013 had been marked by destructive typhoons that affected key food-production areas around the country, the strongest being Yolanda, which slammed Eastern and Western Visayas, the BAS said.