Q3 PH farm output slumps by hefty 5%

MANILA, Philippines — The sharp drop in palay and corn output due to weather disturbances and high input costs pulled down the country’s total farm production in the third quarter by a hefty 5 percent to P389.42 billion, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Data from the statistics agency showed that the value of agriculture and fisheries contracted following a recovery in the second quarter, when it grew by 3.3 percent.

READ: Habagat, El Niño may hit farm output despite ample supply

“The decline in the value of agriculture output could be expected due to the effect of habagat that destroyed most of our crops and the lower farm-gate prices of pork and poultry products,” Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. president Danilo Fausto said in a Viber message on Friday.

Crop production, accounting for 50.8 percent of overall farm output, fell by 9.3 percent to P197.71 billion.

This was primarily driven by the double-digit decline in palay (unmilled rice) and corn harvests, the main contributors to crop output.

Palay output slumped by 17.8 percent to 3.08 million metric tons (MT), while corn declined by 17.4 percent to 2 million MT.

According to the Department of Agriculture (DA), high fertilizer and other input costs discouraged many farmers from planting, while widespread flooding caused by habagat damaged crops.

Fisheries output likewise contracted during the period by 8.5 percent to P50.86 billion, with most fisheries commodities sustaining losses.

Meanwhile, the poultry and livestock sector managed to grow during the third quarter despite the continued prevalence of animal diseases.

The PSA said poultry production expanded by 4.9 percent to P79.67 billion, representing a 20.5 percent share.

All poultry commodities posted increases, except duck eggs.

Livestock output was valued at P61.17 billion, up 1.1 percent, equivalent to 15.7 percent of the total. Hog production alone saw a 1.9-percent improvement.

With the intensifying El Nino threatening to further depress agricultural output in the succeeding quarters, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the DA has outlined a P62-billion response program to protect farmers and fishers nationwide through an array of focused interventions.

Tiu Laurel said in a statement on Friday that the response plan includes the deployment of new technologies, distribution of quality planting materials as well as closer collaboration with various government to ensure that assistance will go to those who need it most. 

Fausto, for his part, believes that the ongoing El Niño is anticipated to cause minimal impact on crops, although extreme heat could affect pork and poultry sectors.

READ: ‘Habagat,’ 4 cyclones leave P4.38-B agri damage

“The El Niño, while it’s here with us now, will not affect much our output of high-value crops but will continue to dampen prices and volume of pork and poultry,” he added.

The El Nino phenomenon is characterized by extended periods of below-average rainfall, thus more extreme droughts are expected to persist until the first half of 2027.

The DA had projected losses from El Niño to reach P20 billion, which could affect 4.6 million farmers and fishers nationwide under a worst-case scenario. INQ