MANILA: The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday assured a stable supply of agricultural commodities in the country despite the -3.3 percent year-on-year drop in agriculture and fisheries production in the second quarter of 2024.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier reported the agri-fishery output contraction at PHP413.91 billion, with a -8.6 percent production decline in crops worth PHP220.04 billion, and a -0.3 percent drop in livestock worth PHP63.33 billion.
Annual positive increments, however, were posted in the poultry and fisheries sectors, hitting 8.7 percent worth PHP70.15 billion, and 2.2 percent amounting to PHP60.40 billion, respectively.
‘Sapat ang supply, lalo na ng bigas. Kung nagkaroon ng (There’s enough supply, especially of rice. If there’s a) reduction, this is still within the limit, year on year,’ DA Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa said in an interview.
He said the country’s rice sector has a stable supply, considering the dry harvest season output alongside the
continuous arrival of imported rice under the lower tariffs.
‘Iyong huling report ng BPI (The latest report of the Bureau of Plant Industry), as of Aug. 1, 150,000 metric tons (MT) iyong pumasok sa ating bansa (arrived in the country) for the whole of July,’ De Mesa said.
Overall, he said, the BPI has recorded the arrival of about 2.49 million MT of rice imports since the start of the year.
Mitigation measures
For crops, which accounted for 53.2 percent of overall production value, De Mesa pointed to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon as the main driver of production decline.
These include a -42.3 percent annual drop in sugarcane, as well as a -20.3 percent and -9.5 percent annual decline in corn and palay production, respectively, according to the PSA.
De Mesa said these figures could have been worse without the resilience of the agriculture sector and the administration’s mitigating measures.
‘Kung hindi nagawa iyong mga mitigating measures before, including itong mga support measures na naibigay
during the El Niño, definitely mas malaki (If we were not able to institute mitigating measures, including these support measures distributed during the El Niño, the damage could have been bigger). It’s within the projected losses,’ he said, citing the DA’s PHP14.54 billion worth of intervention to 333,195 affected farmers and fishers.
These include PHP8.59 billion in financial aid to 1,431,823 farmers nationwide through the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance; PHP4.72 billion worth of production support and financial assistance to farmers, fishers, and farmers cooperatives and associations; and PHP659.17 million worth of agricultural inputs.
The DA has also indemnified 56,112 farmers through the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., amounting to PHP452.56 million; while 66,039 native animals worth PHP18.08 million were distributed to 604 farmers nationwide.
About PHP99.38 million worth of Survival and Recovery (SURE) aid loan was also given through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council.
On farmers’ affected em
ployment, De Mesa noted an expected rebound, considering wider areas for land preparation, farm establishment, and harvesting during the wet season.
He, meanwhile, assured continuous preparations to prevent further agricultural production decline with the looming La Niña.
‘Ongoing naman iyong mga interventions natin, especially doon sa mga water impounding projects natin na mabilis matapos (Our interventions are ongoing, especially the immediate completion of our water impounding projects),’ he said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
