Agricultural output dropped 2.5 percent in the first nine months, pulled down by lower harvests and output of the livestock and fisheries subsectors.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed crops, livestock and fisheries registered lower output, while poultry posted higher production.
Rice output grew 6.7 percent to 12.5 million metric tons in the nine-month period from 11.9 million MT in the same period in 2020. Corn harvests dropped 18.6 percent to 6.1 million MT from 6.4 million MT while banana production showed a slight contraction of 0.2 percent.
The PSA said agriculture and fisheries production in the third quarter contracted 2.6 percent from a year ago, “due to the drop in crops, livestock and fisheries production.”
This was the fourth consecutive quarter that the sector ended in the red, following the 1.5-percent decline in the second quarter, 3.4-percent drop in the first quarter and 3.8-percent slide in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Crop production, which contributed 54 percent to the total agriculture and fisheries production, fell 0.2 percent in the third quarter.
Livestock, with a 15.3-percent share in sector’s production, recorded a 15.2-percent reduction in output. Hog output, the major contributor for livestock sector, decreased 17.8 percent. Poultry production grew by 1.3 percent, while fisheries slowed down 0.4 percent.
The PSA said that at current prices, the value of production in agriculture and fisheries amounted to P446.46 billion in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the PSA said the second-quarter GDP growth rate was revised upward to 12.0 percent from the preliminary estimate of 11.8 percent. Major contributors to the revision were the growth rates in education, from 10.0 percent to 12.6 percent; financial and insurance activities, from 4.2 percent to 5.2 percent; and construction, from 25.7 percent to 27.1 percent.
The growth rate in net primary oncome (NPI) from the rest of the world recorded a downward revision from -53.8 percent to -54.4 percent. Meanwhile, the growth rate in the gross national income in the second quarter was also adjusted from 6.6 percent to 6.8 percent.
The PSA will release the third-quarter GDP figures Tuesday.