El Niño stunts 2015 agricultural production

The growth in Philippine agricultural production was almost flat in 2015, inching up by a measly 0.1 percent to settle at P788.7 billion based on 2006 prices, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Growth teetered on the brink of contraction following the 1.4-percent improvement recorded in 2014, when output was valued at P787.8 billion.

Romeo S. Recide, interim deputy national statistician, said in a report farm output got bogged down due to the effects of the strong El Niño which peaked in the fourth quarter last year, as well as heavy rains brought by storms.

“The sector’s performance was negatively affected by the long dry spell and damages caused by Typhoon ‘Lando,’” Recide said.

He said that, especially in the closing months of 2015, the crops and fisheries sub-sectors showed shrinking output.

In terms of current prices, annual production fell by 4.7 percent to P1.4 trillion following a 10.1-percent surge in 2014.

Last year, the crops subsector—which represented 52 percent of total output value in constant prices, registered at P398 billion. This meant a 2-percent decrease from P406 billion in 2014 when growth was pegged at 2.5 percent.

Palay farms alone, which represented about one-fourth of total output, turned out P151.6 billion—still the biggest contributor but contacting by 4.3 percent.

The PSA noted that decreases in both volume and prices pushed down gross earnings from palay by 18 percent in the fourth quarter when the year’s main crop was harvested.

Similarly, growth in corn output sank 3.2 percent to P50 billion as did sugarcane production, which fell by 8.4 percent, racking up P17.9 billion.

On the other hand, growth in banana production merely slowed down to 2.2 percent from 2.8 percent, settling at P38.4 billion.