Agriculture grew by 2.32 percent in the third quarter of 2017. The sector’s growth was contributed by the production gains in the crops, livestock and poultry subsectors. At current prices, gross value of production in agriculture amounted to PhP382.5 billion. This was 6.27 percent higher than the previous year’s record. In the first nine (9) months of 2017, agriculture recorded a 4.64 percent growth in output.

The crops subsector which shared 46.89 percent in the total agricultural production expanded by 5.18 percent. Production of palay improved by 14.17 percent but that of corn declined by 2.74 percent. Output gains were also noted among the major crops such as coconut, sugarcane, banana, pineapple, tobacco, peanut, mongo, cassava, sweet potato, tomato and rubber. For the third quarter of 2017, the subsector grossed PhP209.8 billion, up by 7.20 percent from last year’s gross receipts. For the period January to September, crop production increased by 8.36 percent.

Production in the livestock subsector inched up by 0.91 percent.It accounted for 18.37 percent of the total agricultural output during the third quarter of 2017. All components of the subsector recorded output increments. The subsector’s gross earnings amounted to PhP68.9 billion and registered an increase of 14.88 percent from last year’s record. The subsector’s gross output in the first nine (9) months of the year grew by 0.87 percent.

The poultry subsector with its 17.34 percent contribution to the total agricultural output grew by 3.41 percent in the third quarter of 2017. Chicken and chicken eggs recorded output gains of 2.52 percent and 7.67 percent, respectively. At current prices, the gross value of poultry production amounted to PhP47.1 billion or 4.32 percent lower than the previous year’s record. The subsector recorded a 4.56 percent growth in output for the period January to September 2017.

The fisheries subsector registered a 4.27 percent decline in output. It shared a 17.40 percent of the total agricultural production in the third quarter of 2017. Improvements in production were recorded for tiger prawn, skipjack, yellowfin tuna and seaweed. The subsector grossed PhP56.7 billion at current prices. This was 3.05 percent higher than last year’s record. From January to September 2017, the subsector’s output went down by 1.97 percent.

On the average, prices received by farmers went up by 3.86 percent in the third quarter of 2017. Price increments were higher in the livestock and fisheries subsectors at 13.84 percent and 7.64 percent, respectively. In the crops subsector, prices grew by 1.92 percent. Meanwhile, the poultry subsector recorded an average price drop of 7.47 percent.  For the first nine (9) months of 2017, farmgate prices increased by an average of 4.19 percent.