(UPDATE) Farm output up 4% in Q1, upbeat on rice
Reuters
First Posted 09:43:00 05/13/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Farm output in the first quarter of the year rose 4.0 percent year-on-year and rice production was on course to reach a record 17.3 million tons in 2008, the government said Tuesday.
The farm sector, which accounts for around a fifth of economic output, grew 4.68 percent in 2007, while overall economic growth reached a 31-year high of 7.3 percent.
The government will announce first quarter economic growth figures later this month.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the first quarter rice production figures meant the government did not need to immediately import more of the national staple.
"When we go back to the market, we will go back with a lot of flexibility," he told reporters.
The Philippines, the world's biggest rice importer, has bought about 1.7 million tons of the grain for 2008 and has said it may need about 2.2 million tons.
International rice prices have surged this year because of curbs by exporting nations and global worries about supply.
But Yap and other officials have said demand in the Philippines has essentially been met and further imports will be necessary only to maintain buffer stocks.
The Department of Agriculture said unmilled rice output reached 3.75 million tons in the first quarter, up 1.96 percent over the year-ago figure. Production should be 7.1 to 7.3 million tons in the first half and the full-year goal would be reached, Yap said.
The government aims to raise agricultural output by 4.5 to 5.5 percent this year.
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