THE value of the country’s agricultural output in the first quarter slightly dipped by 0.3 percent after production in crops, fisheries and livestock sectors contracted, buoyed by a double-digit rate of increase in poultry output. The agriculture chief blamed soaring fertilizer prices, fueled by the war in Ukraine, as a key factor for contraction.
The value of the farm output from January to March (at constant 2018 prices) declined by P75.246 billion to P419.922 billion from P495.168 billion recorded in the same period of last year, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.
“Poultry registered expansion during the period while crops, livestock, and fisheries posted declines in the value of production,” the PSA said in its quarterly report on the value of production in agriculture and fisheries published on Wednesday.
Historical PSA data showed that this is now the third consecutive first quarter wherein agricultural production contracted. PSA data also showed that the P419.922-billion value of agricultural output from January to March was the lowest first quarter production in seven years.
PSA data showed that the value of crop production in the first quarter declined by 1.65 percent to P243.651 billion from P247.736 billion last year. The country’s palay output in the first quarter fell by 1.9 percent year-on-year to 4.541 million metric tons (MMT) while corn production slightly dipped to 2.441 MMT from 2.445 MMT, based on PSA data.
The value of the country’s livestock output in the first quarter declined by 1.04 percent to P59.162 billion from P59.786 billion, based on PSA data. This is now the 10th consecutive quarter that the livestock output contracted, since the African swine fever (ASF) entered the country and devastated the local hog industry.
“Hog, the major contributor to the value of livestock production, decreased by -1.2 percent. This resulted in the decline of -1.0 percent of the total value of livestock production,” the PSA said.
PSA data showed that the fisheries output in the first quarter contracted by 5.76 percent to P54.148 billion from P57.463 billion in the same period of last year.
Meanwhile, PSA data showed that poultry output expanded by 12.32 percent to P62.962 billion from P56.053 billion last year, making it the lone agricultural sector that grew in the first quarter.
Fertilizer prices
Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar attributed the overall contraction in the first quarter agricultural output to the impact of “spiraling prices” of fertilizer, a critical planting input for crops production, particularly rice and corn.
“We will study the extent to which recent developments in the global food supply chain, which is severely rocked by the Ukraine-Russia war, have had impacts on our local agriculture sector in the first quarter,” Dar said in a webinar organized by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) on Wednesday.
“Output in the crops sub sector could already have been affected by skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer prices,” Dar added.
Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) senior research fellow Roehlano M. Briones said the performance of the livestock sector continues to drag down the overall agricultural output.
Briones pointed out that hog raisers, particularly backyard ones, “remain pessimistic” in repopulating their farms due to the lingering threat of the African swine fever. Briones added that the government needs to impress hog raisers with a “strong” stamping out program of the African swine fever (ASF) disease.
“The problem is, many of the hog raisers remain pessimistic. They do not want to risk rebuilding their stocks yet,” he said at the same webinar.
However, Dar said the 1-percent contraction in the overall livestock output is already a “good indication” that the sector is on the “rebound” track.
“All things considered, the livestock subsector has rebounded from its negative growth last year,” he said.
Dar described the contraction of the fisheries output as the “Achilles heel” of the whole agriculture sector for the first quarter.