DESPITE lower than expected growth in 2011, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is confident that it will be able to achieve a full-year growth of between 4 percent and 5 percent this year.
In 2011 the farm sector was only able to post a growth of 2.34 percent, below the full-year target of 3.5 percent due to a weak fourth-quarter performance. In the last quarter of the year, the sector saw growth go down by 2.11 percent on the back of a contraction of 8.72 percent, significantly lower than economist expectations.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said, however, that 2012 will be “blessed with better weather” which will allow the palay subsector to see its production grow to around 18.46 million metric tons (MMT). Given that palay accounts for 15 percent of agriculture growth and crops account for 50 percent of farm output, he said this will be able to buoy the performance of the farm sector this year.
“Our palay target for 2012 is 18.46 MMT. Sa total forecast po ng total crops and fisheries ay nag-ta-target kami ng 4 percent to 5 percent,” Alcala said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
“Rice and corn output will be the main drivers of growth this year. The production growth of cassava is also good. These are the reasons why we are expecting higher production output this year,” he said.
University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) Center for Food and Agribusiness (CFA) Executive Director Rolando T. Dy said this projection may be achievable given the early release and higher agriculture budget of P61.7 billion for 2012.
Dy said it is crucial for the DA to have a budget that will not only be sufficient but released ahead of time to be able to begin irrigation rehabilitation and reconstruction projects.
Alcala said undertaking irrigation projects are part of the priorities of the DA this year along with pursuing more credit-facility programs that will be more accessible and affordable for farmers.
“For 2012, I am projecting a growth of 3 percent to 4 percent because I incorporated the implications of possible climate disturbances. Kung wala ’yong mga disturbances na ito, the DA target may be achievable,” Dy said.
In 2011, the main driver of farm growth was the crops subsector which posted a growth of 4.82 percent. This was buoyed by the 5.78-percent full-year growth in palay and 9.32-percent growth in corn.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary and Bureau of Agriculture Statistics (BAS) Director Romeo Recide said the farm sector benefited from good weather, particularly in the first half of 2011. This was able to boost palay production to around 16.68 MMT in 2011.
However, the main drag in agriculture growth was fisheries which only posted a contraction of 4.1 percent in 2011. Recide said this was largely due to the conservation efforts of the Philippines.
The government imposed a ban on sardine fishing and followed the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission ban on tuna fishing.
In December, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources enforced a three-month ban on sardine fishing following findings that the stocks of Indian sardines or tamban in Zamboanga del Norte are declining.
Data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) showed that the volume of unloading of Indian sardines in the Zamboanga Peninsula was down by 11,658.16 MT to 31,284.51 MT from 42,942.67 MT in July to September this year.
The ban on tuna fishing in certain pockets of the high seas in the Pacific Ocean to protect the remaining population of the yellow-fin and big-eye tuna took effect on January 1.
The ban has already affected more than 100,000 Filipino families who depend on tuna fishing for their livelihood. Commercial fishing production in the Philippines, according to the BAS, was down by 4.97 percent in January to June.
