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Farm sector grows 3.77% |
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(January 21, 2004 - Wednesday | Philippine Daily Inquirer)
by Christine A. Gaylican THE AGRICULTURE sector grew by 3.77 percent in 2003 after a growth of 4.12 percent the previous year as drought and typhoons cut production, the Department of Agriculture reported Wednesday. |
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Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo said the tailend of an El Niño drought in the first half of 2003 and two destructive typhoons in the third quarter restricted farm output growth.
The agriculture sector comprises one-fifth of the country's gross domestic product. The government had expected a 4.0-percent expansion for the farm sector in 2003. The 2003 growth of the farm sector was still beyond expectation after a recent World Bank study indicated that the average agricultural growth worldwide was at 1.8 percent, University of Asia and the Pacific professor Rolando Dy said in an interview. Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said the domestic economy likely grew "by 4.3 percent or better" in 2003 because of satisfactory farm output. The government target was 4.2-5.2 percent growth in the gross domestic product last year. "A 3.8-percent growth [in agriculture] is not bad," Neri said. "This will pull up a bit our GDP." Neri noted that an earlier expectation for farm output last year was only a growth of 3.4 percent. Total crop output last year rose 5.21 percent to 330.64 billion pesos, with rice production up 1.73 percent at 13.5 million tons before milling. There was a 3.6-increase in productivity and more areas were planted to rice in the second half of 2003, Agriculture Secretary Lorenzo said in a statement. The "palay" [rice before milling] output grew 1.73 percent to 13.5 million metric tons as the regions of Cagayan Valley, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Bicol, and Caraga reported increased production. "Despite the devastating typhoons in the third quarter which exacted heavy toll on our rice growing areas, we still end up 2003 on a positive note, with our palay output much higher" than in 2002, Lorenzo said. Livestock production rose 6.4 percent. Poultry output, which contributed 16 percent of the entire agricultural growth, grew 8.6 percent. Fisheries production was up 5.84 percent. "This is still a remarkable growth notwithstanding the impact of the calamities on the sector," Lorenzo said. Production of the corn sub-sector reached 4.62 million metric tons, still below the domestic requirement of 5.5 million metric tons. home | latest news |
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