By Mary Grace Padin
DAMAGE caused by weather and unrealized planting intentions brought about by the prolonged dry spell and lack of water affected the country’s agricultural productivity in 2015, slowing the sector’s growth to 0.11 percent, latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
On a quarterly basis, PSA data showed the sector contracted by 0.96 percent from October to December last year.
“The sector’s performance was negatively affected by the long dry spell and damage caused by Typhoon Lando [international code name Koppu],” the report said.
The crops and fisheries subsectors reported drops in output in 2015, while the livestock and poultry industries showed positive growth for the whole year.
Based on PSA data, production in the crops subsector decreased by 1.95 percent for the whole of 2015, and declined by 2.69 percent for the last three months of the year. It accounted for 51.83 percent of the total agricultural production during the October-to-December period.
Palay production for 2015 was recorded at 18.15 million metric tons (MMT), 4.31 percent lower than the country’s output last year at 18.97 MMT. Corn output also slumped by 3.24 percent to 7.52 MMT, from 7.77 MMT in 2014. The PSA said the palay and corn industries suffered the most from the long dry spell and Lando.
The PSA added that Lando pulled down the palay production of the country’s top rice-producing provinces, such as Nueva Ecija, Mountain Province, Apayao, Kalinga, Aurora, Bulacan, Tarlac and Pampanga. Diseases and lack of water also caused palay production to drop in other areas.
The decline in corn output was also attributed by the PSA to the typhoons that devastated the country in 2015, the dry weather and lack of water supply.
Edilberto M. de Luna, agriculture assistant secretary for Field Operations and national coordinator of the Rice and Corn Program, said in an earlier interview that rice and corn production in 2015 dropped because of foregone planting by farmers, in anticipation of the effects of El Niño.
The PSA report said fisheries production fell by 1.96 percent during the January-to-December period. For the fourth quarter of the year, the subsector’s production was recorded to have slipped by 4.28 percent. It contributed 16.38 percent of the total output during the period.
All fisheries products, except tiger prawn and seaweed, posted declines in production in 2015.
Meanwhile, the annual growth of the livestock and poultry subsectors reached 3.83 percent and 5.74 percent, respectively. Livestock production accounted for 17.07 percent of total agricultural output, while the poultry sector contributed 14.72 percent. Production levels of all components in the livestock sector—except carabao—and the poultry sector—except duck—showed improvements in 2015.
Agriculture Undersecretary for Livestock Jose C. Reaño said the growth of the two subsectors can be attributed to the improvement in the productivity of breeders and growers.
Based on the same report from the PSA, the gross value of production (at current prices) during the fourth quarter amounted to P448 billion, 6.64 percent lower than the 2014 level.
The bulk, or P259.7 billion, of this value was contributed by the crops subsector, 11.05 percent lower than the production value posted in 2014. The gross value of output of the livestock subsector was reported at P72.1 billion, poultry subsector at P53.4 billion, and fisheries subsector at P62.8 billion.
Dr. Rolando Dy, executive director of the University of Asia and the Pacific’s Center for Food and Agribusiness, told the BusinessMirror that the 2015 growth rate of Philippine agriculture was better than he expected.
“I projected a low negative of 1 percent, so this is a better turnout. [The reason for the minimal growth] is basically weather or El Niño-related. [The country experienced] low rainfall in the last 12 months,” Dy said in a text message.
The strong El Niño episode is expected to gradually weaken through spring (March to May) 2016 and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (Enso)-neutral is favored by May to July 2016, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said, quoting the Climate Prediction Center and International Research Institute consensus as of January 18.
Enso-neutral refers to a period when neither El Niño nor La Nina is present. Data from the Department of Agriculturre as of August 13 showed the country’s agriculture sector has suffered a total of P3.32- billion production loss due to El Niño.
The country’s corn industry posted the biggest production loss, currently pegged at P2.21 billion. Damage to the rice sector reached P1.09 billion, high-value crops at P19.56 million and livestock sector at P11,000.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes