THE Department of Agriculture (DA) urged farmers and fisherfolk in Negros Island Region (NIR) to maintain resilience in their respective productions amid high recovery growth of the country’s agriculture sector during the first quarter of the year.
The January to March 2017 Performance of Philippine Agriculture reports of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released on Monday, May 15, showed that the country’s agriculture has recovered with a high of 5.28 percent growth after several quarters of declines.
PSA said all subsectors posted output increments with the crops subsector as the major growth driver during the period.
At current prices, gross value of agricultural production amounted to P407.6 billion. The figure is 8.79 percent higher than the previous year’s record.
Joyce Wendam, regional director of DA-NIR, said Tuesday that for the country to keep an increasing agriculture industry growth trend, Negrense farmers should also remain resilient, or even achieve more than their current production strength.
Wendam said Negrense farmers should further enhance productivity to attain sustainability and competitiveness amid the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) integration and the challenges brought by climate change.
“While the government, through DA-NIR, assures support to the farmers in the region, they should also become more ready and strong enough in overcoming challenges that may threaten their capacity to grow,” she added.
Moreover, PSA also reported that during the first quarter, production in the crops subsector went up by 8.28 percent; livestock subsector - 3.22 percent; poultry subsector - 1.88 percent; and fisheries subsector - 0.73 percent.
Of these subsectors, crops posted the highest growth contribution of 53.66 percent to the total agricultural production. At current prices, it grossed P233.5 billion which was 10.45 percent more than last year’s gross receipts.
Data showed that outputs in palay and corn farms increased by 12.38 percent and 23.44 percent, respectively.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, in his Facebook page, said the current agriculture growth could be attributed to good climate and favorable conditions in the farming sector.
Piñol said it is also an indication that the country is on the right track in terms of agriculture and fishery development.
“A lot more needs to be done,” he said, adding that with the implementation of easy access financing productivity could be further boosted.