Philippine Agri Dep't Bullish on Attaining 2007 Growth Target

MANILA, May 15 Asia Pulse - The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) on Sunday expressed confidence in attaining its growth target of four to five per cent for the agricultural sector this year on the strength of higher public spending for rural infrastructure such as irrigation and postharvest facilities that are designed to further boost productivity and reverse crop wastages that traditionally undercut farm output.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the DA is pumping P3.126 billion (US$66 million) into the rehabilitation, repair and restoration of irrigation systems covering 55,000 hectares of rice lands nationwide in the first half of the year.

It also put in investment on biomass dryers and other postharvest facilities which would help reduce crop wastages that destroy an estimated P30 billion worth of crops each year.

"We are confident that with the relatively strong performance of the sector in the first quarter and these new rural infrastructure facilities in place, we will be able to hit our four to five per cent growth target for Philippine agriculture this year," Yap said.

He noted that the P3 billion rehabilitation program is by far the biggest reform initiative undertaken for Philippine irrigation in the last 30 years.

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has so far put in place some 204 irrigation systems covering 704,746 hectares nationwide, and 6,162 communal irrigation systems servicing another 548,978 hectares.

Yap said the DA is also putting up a total of 200 dryers in various rice and corn producing areas in the country to minimize crop losses by five per cent.

He said it is also establishing, through the National Food Authority (NFA), a national grains highway that would directly link farm production areas to major consumption centres as well as calamity and isolation-prone sites.

The grains highway program involves upgrading existing NFA warehouses, setting up grains silos and other inter-related postharvest facilities and marketing support systems that would help reduce crop wastages and losses and expand the access of small farmers and fisherfolk to more and better markets for their produce, Yap said.

He noted that postharvest losses for corn alone reached up to 25 per cent of the total harvests in some cases, owing to the lack of adequate drying and storage facilities.

The development of the food highway, Yap said, will address pressing concerns over the inadequacy of postharvest facilities for farm produce, which has spawned inefficient practices leading to high production losses by as much as 14.8 per cent for rice and 20.6 per cent for fruits and vegetable harvests.

Philippine agriculture grew 3.55 per cent in the first quarter of 2007, posting an almost five per cent jump in value to P243.2 billion at current prices.

In terms of value, Yap said the entire agricultural sector posted total receipts of P243.216 billion during the January-March period, or 4.78 per cent higher than the P232.112 billion value in the same quarter last year.

He said the fishery subsector netted the highest gain anew during the years first three months at 8.52 per cent, with current price value rising 10.34 per cent from the P43.676 billion of the same period last year.

Citing figures from the DAs Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), Yap said from January to March 2007, the crops sector netted a gross value of P129.963 billion, or 2.22 per cent higher than that of the same period last year; while the fishery subsector recorded receipts totalling P43.676 billion or a 10.34 per cent increase; livestock at P39.30 billion or a 3.99 per cent increase; and poultry at P30.27 billion or a 9.72 per cent hike.

Corn output expanded 11.43 per cent with an 18.95 per cent spike in value at P17.52 billion, while palay output went up 1.63 per cent with a 4.14 per cent increase in gross value to P40.59 billion from last years level.

Total palay output during the quarter was 3.676 million metric tons (MT), while that of corn was 1.704 million MT.

On the other hand, the livestock subsector grew 2.2 per cent during the quarter, resulting to a 3.99 per cent increase in gross receipts to P39.3 billion.

The poultry posted a dramatic recovery from a year-ago slump, rising 2.3 per cent from negative growth in 2007 and netting a gross value of P30.27 billion.

Commercial fishing posted the biggest production increase in the fishery subsector, with volume rising 13.29 per cent to 275,920 MT and value expanding 16 per cent to P12.486 billion.

Municipal fishing came next with a nine per cent increase in output to 325,000 MT, with a 5.58 per cent increase in value to P15.93 billion; and then aquaculture, which expanded 6.4 per cent to 567,000 MT and posting a higher 11 per cent rise in value to P15.256 billion.

(PNA)

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