After successive contractions in the first six-months, farm output grew in the third-quarter of the year as production of crops, livestock, and poultry recovered, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.
Data released by the PSA on Wednesday, Nov. 9, showed that the value of production in agriculture and fisheries increased by 1.8 percent from July to September this year, a reversal of the 2.6 percent contraction registered a year earlier.
The agriculture sector also recovered from the 0.6 percent decline seen in the second-quarter and the 0.3 percent drop recorded in the first three months of 2022.
At current prices, the value of farm output amounted to P501.58 billion in the third-quarter, up 12.3 percent year-on-year.
Crops, which accounted for 53.9 percent of the production in terms of value, increased 1.8 percent with palay and corn production rose one percent percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
Double-digit growths in the value of production were likewise noted for sugarcane by 78.8 percent and abaca by 21.7 percent.
Increases were also registered for cacao (8.2 percent), tomato (6.1 percent), ampalaya (2.7 percent), eggplant (2.3 percent), sweet potato (2.2 percent), tobacco (1.9 percent), onion (1.7 percent), pineapple (1.5 percent), cabbage (1.2 percent), and coconut (1.0 percent).
Less than 1.0 percent increases were recorded for mongo, cassava, and banana.
Meanwhile, reductions in the value were seen for calamansi by -6.2 percent, coffee by -4.0 percent, mango by -3.8 percent, potato by -1.0 percent, and rubber by -0.3 percent. For "other crops,” they went up by 1.2 percent.
At current prices, crop production was valued at P240.97 billion, higher by 4.2 percent from the previous year's record.
From January to September, the value of crop output contracted by one percent.
Livestock, which shared 15.6 percent to the total, also went up by 4.0 percent with hog production improved by 4.5 percent.
Moreover, poultry expanded by 6.4 percent in the third-quarter. Except for duck, all poultry commodities registered growth in the value of production.
Poultry contributed 15.2 percent to the total value of production in agriculture and fisheries.
On the other hand, fisheries output—accounting for 15.3 percent of the total—fell 4.2 percent.
Double-digit decrements were recorded in the value of production for mudcrab, blue crab, Indian mackerel, tiger prawn, Bali sardinella, grouper, and milkfish.