9-month agri production grew 3.5%
The country’s agricultural output reached P1.28 trillion in the first nine months, up 3.5 percent from the year prior, driven by higher crop and poultry production, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
The statistics agency said in the third quarter alone, the value of agricultural and fisheries production had expanded by 2.8 percent to P408.94 billion. This marks the third consecutive quarter of growth in local farm output.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the Department of Agriculture (DA) was upbeat about the farm sector achieving a full-year growth despite the continued presence of animal diseases, such as African swine fever (ASF) and bird flu.
In an interview on Thursday, Tiu Laurel said local production could also be affected by other typhoons that may hit the archipelago for the rest of this year.
“I cannot predict what the effect of the typhoon will be … assuming the succeeding typhoons won’t hit (agricultural farmlands) as hard, the outlook is good,” he said.
“There is still ASF and we’ll soon have some issues related to avian influenza. But it is being contained as of the moment,” he added.
Among subsectors, poultry improved the most, posting a 9.1-percent nine-month growth to deliver output valued at P226.53 billion. Chicken, duck, chicken eggs and duck eggs registered increases during the reporting period.
Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. president Danilo Fausto said poultry output was expected to sustain its growth despite challenges arising from bird flu. Multinational companies engaged in poultry production have the financial capital to address biosecurity issues, he noted.
Crop production was valued at P712.5 billion in the first nine months, up 5 percent.
Palay or unhusked rice output rose by 8.3 percent to P263.65 billion, while corn harvests inched up by 2 percent to P89.31 billion.
In a Viber message, Fausto said the “modest gain” in crops could be attributed to the significant intervention in this segment, especially rice, the country’s staple food.
However, fisheries output dropped by 1.9 percent to P167.46 billion. This segment has been on a downtrend since 2023.
Most species posted declines: milkfish, tiger prawn, skipjack, round scad, frigate tuna, bali sardinella, blue crab, cavalla, fimbriated sardines, white-legged shrimp and seaweed.
“I did not expect the big decline in the fisheries sector especially since we are a nation of islands, where fisheries (aquaculture) is perceived to be the competitive advantage of the country,” Fausto said.
But according to Tiu Laurel, the DA has anticipated lower fisheries output this 2025 due to cooler temperatures that slow down fish cultivation.
Fausto said the government should focus more on the fisheries sector to include intervention in the hatchery and fingerlings production, cold chain and storage, ice plants and supply logistics.
Meanwhile, livestock output dropped by 3.5 percent to P178 billion, also seeing a contraction since 2023.
Production of hog, the major livestock commodity, fell 4.2 percent to P144.01 billion.
