Biz Progress

Continued expansion in the palay, fisheries and poultry sub-sectors plus the rebound of the livestock sub-sector enabled Philippine agriculture to sustain its growth in the year’s first semester despite production cutbacks in other crops.

Citing data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), the Department of Agriculture (DA) said that palay production rose by 3.59% while fisheries sustained its status as the primary growth driver of Philippine agriculture by expanding 4.9% over the January-June period.

The BAS said that in the six months to June, the livestock sub-sector was able to rebound from its negative growth during the same period in 2008 with a 2.42% increase this year. The poultry sub-sector grew 4.31% from January to June this year, with chicken egg production rising by 7.4%.

Gross output in agriculture grew by 1.53% in the first semester, with its corresponding value at current prices reaching P591.8 billion or 2.66% higher than the previous year’s level.

Palay production posted a 3.59% increase with total output reaching 7.38 million metric tons (MT) in the first semester, partly as a result of the DA’s intervention programs that led to the expansion of lands planted to the crop; sufficient irrigation water; extensive use of hybrid and certified seeds; and an increase in the use of fertilizers.

Banana, along with coconut, peanut and cassava, also registered production increases of 4.97%, 1.36%, 4.16% and 4.22%, respectively.

To encourage farmers to plant more corn, the National Food Authority (NFA) is now carrying out an almost P3.7-billion intensive buying program of the produce in major corn-producing regions.

The agency is targeting to buy 4.6 million bags of yellow corn grains equivalent to P2.8 billion and 1.3 million bags of white corn grains worth P892 million until December this year.

NFA Administrator Jessup Navarro said that by end of July, cumulative corn procurement of NFA has already reached 383,426 bags or an equivalent of 19,171 metric tons, he said.

DA Assistant Secretary Dennis Araullo, who is concurrent head of the “Ginintuang Masagang Ani” (GMA) program for corn, said the DA is also aiming to complete the construction of 50 corn post-harvest processing and trading centers and 44 village-type corn cob dryers in strategic corn-growing areas all over the country.

To date, he said there are already nine processing and trading centers operating in the country Рone each in Kabacan, North Cotabato; Banga, South Cotabato; Malungon, Saranggani Province; Sergio Osme̱a, Zamboanga del Norte; Sagay, Negros Occidental; Ramon Magsaysay, Zamboanga del Sur; Carmen Rosales, Pangasinan; Bantay, Ilocos Sur; and Talacag, Bukidnon, which provide drying and marketing services to thousands of corn farmers.

Corn production amounted to 3.22 million MT in the first half of 2009, which is 2.27% lower compared to last year’s record.

The fisheries subsector expanded 4.9% primarily due to the growth in commercial fisheries, which increased 10.41%. municipal fisheries recorded a 0.81% growth while aquaculture production expanded 4.3%.

In the poultry subsector, chicken eggs posted the biggest production gain of 7.4% due to the continuous increment in inventory of layers, better egg-laying efficiency ratios and increase in broiler production in commercial farms in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Central Visayas and Northern Mindanao.

Hog production went up by 2.68% in the January-June period, which helped the livestock sub-sector bounce back with a 2.42% hike in output. The growth was attributed to the higher stock of fatteners in the Visayas and Mindanao .

 

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