The Philippines’ agriculture and fisheries output grew by 2.8 percent in the third quarter, as stronger crop and poultry production kept the country on track to achieve higher growth this year compared to last year’s contraction.

The latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thursday, Nov. 6, showed that the value of agriculture and fisheries production, at constant 2018 prices, amounted to ₱408.94 billion from July to September.

This marks the third consecutive quarter that agriculture and fisheries production posted growth, reversing three straight quarters of decline in 2024.

In the third quarter of last year, agricultural output contracted by 3.7 percent year-on-year, with a value of ₱397.43 billion, due to lower production caused by El Niño and La Niña phenomena.

The PSA said the 2.8-percent growth in the July-to-September period was driven by increases in the value of crops and poultry production.

Crops, which accounted for more than half of total agricultural output, posted a three-percent growth to ₱218 billion from last year’s ₱211.62 billion.

The value of palay production, which accounts for 20 percent of total crop output, expanded by 12.6 percent compared to the previous year.

Accounting for seven percent of total output, corn production saw its value drop by 2.9 percent during the period.

Onion recorded the highest growth at 77.3 percent, while abaca had the biggest drop in production, down by 11.8 percent.

Based on PSA data, poultry recorded a 10.6-percent growth to ₱75.96 billion in the third quarter compared to ₱68.66 billion in the same period last year.

Poultry accounted for 14.8 percent of total agricultural output.

The value of production for chicken and chicken eggs increased in the period, growing by 12.4 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.

“However, the value of livestock and fisheries production contracted during the period,” the PSA said.

Fisheries production, which contributed 13.3 percent to total output, continued its downward trend as it fell by 2.7 percent to ₱54.47 billion from last year’s ₱55.48 billion.

Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said the decline in fish production is directly linked to the harsh weather brought by El Niño.

Tiu Laurel, who previously headed a deep-sea fishing company before joining public service, said one of the silver linings of hotter weather is that it encourages higher fish production.

“This year is not an El Niño year, so production is lower,” he said in a chance interview.

The value of livestock production was down 1.9 percent in the third quarter, reaching ₱60.51 billion versus last year’s ₱61.67 billion.

The PSA said all livestock commodities registered annual reductions in value except for dairy, which improved by 34.7 percent.

Hog production fell by 1.4 percent, as the industry is still reeling from the impact of African swine fever (ASF).

Nonetheless, Tiu Laurel remains positive that agriculture and fisheries would recover from last year’s subpar performance.

“We are heading in the right direction since every quarter has improved. We also have fairly good weather this year; that is also helpful,” he said.

Tiu Laurel, however, expressed this optimism with some reservations due to the impact of incoming storms, particularly the possible entry of a potential super typhoon.

“I cannot predict the effect of the storm,” he said. “Assuming we won’t be hit by any severe storm, the outlook is good.”

Based on the DA’s latest bulletin on the impact of Typhoon “Tino,” the initial damage and losses to the agriculture sector are around ₱13.26 million, which are still expected to be much higher.

The storm, which has since exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), battered several areas in the Visayas with a death toll of over 100.