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Growth in agriculture

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The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the country’s farm production made a rebound in the third quarter of the year, after contracting in the previous two quarters.

According to the report, the country’s agricultural output grew by 1.8 percent compared to a decline of 2.6 percent in the same period a year ago.

Crops, livestock and poultry subsectors expanded while only fisheries declined during the period.

“The year-on-year growth may have been attributed to the lower base denominator effects a year ago in view of some pockets of lockdowns last year, while there are no more lockdowns so far this year,” said Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort.

Raul Montemayor, national manager of the Federation of Free Farmers, said the year-on-year comparison is better than quarter-to-quarter data due to possible shifts in production schedules due to weather and other factors. He said there was a year-on-year drop in crops and fisheries output, while poultry and livestock were just rebounding from contraction in the past year.

He was expecting a worse output due to the effect of fertilizer and fuel prices, and expects that to be reflected in the fourth quarter performance of the sector.

Poultry posted the biggest increase at 6.4 percent, followed by livestock growing 4 percent. Crops, which accounts for more than half of the total at 53.9 percent, rose by 1.8 percent after declining in the first two quarters. Fisheries continued its downtrend over the past nine months with a 4.2 percent slump.

The sector, which is currently headed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself sitting as head of the Department of Agriculture, has been in dire need of good news. If it is the access and attention of having a President sitting as concurrent Agriculture Secretary that is bearing fruit, let us hope that this growth is sustainable because there are still many challenges facing the country’s farmers and fishermen during these trying times.

A stronger agriculture sector would certainly help reign in the runaway inflation that has been making life difficult for Filipinos. Hopefully the DA will continue working to sustain the growth until it translates more productive farmers, better food supply and lower prices for all Filipinos.*

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