Philippines: Agriculture Grows
24 January 2007 Philippine’s Bureau of Agricultural Statistics reports that agriculture in the country grew by 3.9% last year, up from the 2.3% expansion in 2005.
Last year’s agricultural performance was still lower than the official growth target of 4% to 4.5%. The lower growth rate was caused by damage from the series of devastating typhoons during the last four months of 2006. For 2007, the government has set a 4% to 5% growth target for the agricultural sector.
Last year, all farm subsectors except poultry recorded output increases, with fisheries recording the biggest gain (6.3%). Leading the fisheries expansion was the continued growth (10.4%) of the aquaculture.
Overall, crops grew 4.4% and accounted for almost half of the farm sector’s gross earnings (47.2%). Paddy rice output was up 5% in 2006, while corn posted a substantial 15.8% growth over 2005. Livestock grew 2.6%, with hog and dairy production gaining 3.9% and 4.3%, respectively.
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