PSA: Farm workers’ productivity on the rise

Productivity among farm workers grew by an average of about 4 percent from 2011 to 2013, reaching a national average of P59,706 per worker in 2013.

According to the Philippine Statistical Authority, the value represented constant prices in the year 2000.

PSA data showed that majority of the nation’s regions recorded increases in agricultural labor productivity.

Productivity in the Ilocos region was reported to have improved the most, increasing by nearly 12 percent a year to P79,154 per farmhand over the three-year period.

The worst performing region was Eastern Visayas, where productivity fell by 7 percent a year to P37,741.

In terms of jobs, the agriculture sector counted 11.84 million workers in 2013, easing by an average of 0.4 percent a year from 2009 to 2013.

Western Visayas had the most number of agricultural workers in 2013 at 1.11 million people. But the number similarly decreased by one percent a year.

Central Luzon and Eastern Visayas posted the highest growth rates in terms of jobs at 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Also, agriculture’s share in total nationwide employment went down to 31 percent in 2013. From 2009 to 2013, the sector’s share dwindled from 34.3 percent.

“In all regions, the proportion of agricultural employment to total employment declined during the five-year period,” the PSA said.

The agency added that in 2013, the proportion remained highest in ARMM at 68.3 percent, but the number too decreased yearly by 1.2 percent.

As for compensation, the average basic salary of agricultural workers nationwide grew by an average of 4.1 percent a year, reaching P170.34 a day in 2013.

“Higher salary and wages were received by those engaged in fishing activities, amounting to P189.48 per day,” the PSA said. “Wage gain over the five-year period averaged 2.2 percent a year.”

Also, workers involved in agriculture and forestry enjoyed wage increases of 4.3 percent a year, earning a daily average of P169.22 in 2013.

The PSA said labor productivity could be used to assess the country’s ability to create and sustain “decent employment opportunities with fair equitable remuneration.”

An increase in labor productivity often influences the social and economic environment positively, which in turn leads to poverty reduction, it added.