Farm sector seen shrinking by 1.21% in Q1

An international research organization has projected the country’s agriculture output to contract by 1.21 percent in the first quarter of this year. However, the rest of the succeeding quarters is expected to show positive growth as the sector becomes more adapted and innovative.

In a report, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) director and CEO Glenn Gregorio said the contraction was expected following the series of typhoons that devastated farmlands in November, worsened by the restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Among the industry’s subsectors, only the fisheries industry was projected to grow by 3.05 percent. The production of crops, livestock and poultry was forecast to shrink by 1.17 percent, 6.33 percent and 3.99 percent, respectively.

Despite the positive momentum of the fisheries industry, Gregorio called on the government to improve the industry’s logistics and transport system to make it more competitive.

With residents of fishing communities remaining one of the impoverished sectors in the country, Searca stressed the need to invest in integrated infrastructure systems to lower production and transportation costs to make fishers more profitable.

For livestock and poultry, Searca called on more stringent biosecurity measures to combat viral animal diseases like avian influenza and African swine fever. This would include the use of tunnel-vent technologies and surveillance systems.

Consumers, in turn, were enjoined to be “more aware and supportive of livestock and poultry products that manifest higher quality standards.”

All told, the frequency of natural hazards and other disruptions must prompt the government to transform agriculture systems to be more resilient.

Searca recommended several interventions such as access to climatic and weather data, the use of stress-tolerant crop varieties, provision of insurance and technological support as well as the extension of financial capital.