Earnings of local farmers rose slightly last year, according to a report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The PSA said in a report, titled “Producer Price Index (PPI) for Agriculture,” that farm-gate prices of agricultural commodities slightly recovered in 2013 at 140.9 percent.
“In 2013 the indices of all commodity groups were over the base year. Cereal items recorded the highest PPI at 156.1 percent, while vegetables and legumes posted the lowest index at 121.1 percent,” the report read.
The PSA said the PPI is primarily aimed to measure changes in the average prices received by farmers for their produce relative to a base period.
The PPI of commercial crops, the PSA said, dropped to 138.5 percent last year, from 192.1 percent in 2011. The agency said this could be attributed to the decrease in the prices of coconut matured and rubber cuplump.
Across regions, prices received by farmers for their produce in the 2011-to-2013 period showed different movements.
“Uptrends were noted in Northern Luzon, Central Luzon and Western Visayas. The opposite was true for Zamboanga Peninsula and Northern Mindanao,” the report read.
The PSA said prices in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas fluctuated.
Semiannual PPIs indicated that from 2011 to 2013, producer prices were generally higher during July to December than during January to June. “The highest PPI for the January-to-June period was recorded for commercial crops at 202.1 percent in 2011. For the July-to-December 2013 period, cereals listed the highest index at 166.4 percent,” the report read.
In 2011 and 2012, the PSA said regional prices of all commodity groups were higher from January to June compared with those for the July-to-December period. However, producer prices during the second half of 2013 were higher than the first half of the year.