Piñol: Agri sector ‘won’t do very well’
Agriculture growth likely fell in the third quarter due to a recent typhoon and the outlook for the rest of the year isn’t particularly upbeat given the extensive damage caused by the storm, a Cabinet official said on Wednesday.
“This year we’re expecting that we won’t do very well because of Typhoon “Ompong” which actually caused damage amounting to about P26 billion,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol told reporters.
At P26.7 billion, losses caused by the storm were said to be the highest since Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
Farm sector growth will particularly be weighed down by crop damage, with Ompong having caused rice losses totaling 765,484 metric tons (MT). The financial cost was estimated at P14.5 billion, with 517,175 hectares or 48 percent of the standing crop affected.
The Agriculture department was targeting rice output of 19.4 million MT but revised this 18.6 million MT following Ompong’s onslaught.
Storms during the last three months of the year could further reduce output and the sector’s overall performance, Piñol said.
The agriculture sector grew by just 0.58 percent in the first half, significantly lower than the 5.71 percent recorded a year earlier.
Piñol, however, said the Agriculture department was “positive” of a rebound next year.
“We’re expecting that we will be able to improve our performance by 2019,” he said.
The Agriculture chief, meanwhile, said a five-year agriculture roadmap was needed to address supply shortages and price spikes.
Local governments are being asked to submit their food security plans, which Piñol said would be incorporated into a national roadmap.
“What we are doing here … is engaging the local government units and municipalities in a partnership that we hope will be able to increase our food production to ensure the food security of the localities and in the process come up with a national food security plan,” he said.
Congress, Piñol added, will hopefully provide funding for the plan.
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