The country’s agriculture output shrank in the second-quarter, but the contraction moved at a much slower pace compared with the previous year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

The PSA reported on Monday, Aug. 8, that the value of production of the local farm sector, which accounts for about a tenth of the country’s economy, declined by 0.6 percent in April to June this year.

The latest dip, however, was considered an improvement from the 1.3 percent decline seen in the second quarter of 2021.

Based on the PSA report, crops and fishery production both fell in the quarter ending June.

Quarter-on-quarter, farm output also further weakened from the 0.3 percent contraction recorded in the first three months of the year.

Crops, which contributed 54.9 percent to farm production, declined 2.8 percent from April to June despite higher palay and corn output, which grew 0.7 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

The value of fisheries production that shared 15.8 percent in the in agriculture output, also contracted by 2.3 percent.

According to the PSA, double-digit decreases were noted in the production oftiger prawn, blue crab, frigate tuna, mudcrab, cavalla, and milkfish.

Meanwhile, livestock made a turnaround in the second quarter, posting a 2.1 percent growth in the value. In particular, hog production expanded by 3.0 percent.

The value of livestock output accounted for 14.6 percent of the value of production in agriculture.

Likewise, poultry, which accounted for 14.7 percent of the total farm production, went up by 7.8 percent. All poultry commodities, except duck, recorded increases in the value of production.

At current prices, the value of production in agriculture and fisheries, which amounted to P532.79 billion, grew by 6.2 percent last quarter

In the first half of the year, the agriculture sector declined by 0.45 percent. In 2021, the industry shrank 1.7 percent.