THE goal of raising annual farm output by as much as 5 percent prompted the government more than a decade ago to start increasing the budget for the agriculture sector. That target, however, remained elusive. Despite billions of pesos poured into agricultural interventions, the expansion of crops and fisheries output from 2008 to 2017 never breached the 4-percent mark. And going by the recent statement of the chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the sector again exhibited lackluster performance in 2018 as output rose by a measly 1 percent.
THE goal of raising annual farm output by as much as 5 percent prompted the government more than a decade ago to start increasing the budget for the agriculture sector. That target, however, remained elusive. Despite billions of pesos poured into agricultural interventions, the expansion of crops and fisheries output from 2008 to 2017 never breached the 4-percent mark. And going by the recent statement of the chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the sector again exhibited lackluster performance in 2018 as output rose by a measly 1 percent.
From 2008, when the government decided to increase the DA’s budget, there were years when agricultural production grew by less than 2 percent. The sector’s dismal performance in 2010, when output contracted by 0.12 percent, was blamed on the El Niño phenomenon. In 2015, production declined by nearly 1 percent in the fourth quarter after Typhoon Lando (international code name Koppu) ravaged North Luzon provinces that are considered top rice and corn producers. More strong typhoons visited the Philippines in 2016, causing output to decline by 1.41 percent.
Two years later, strong typhoons would again destroy standing rice and corn crops, particularly in Northern Luzon. Typhoon Ompong (international code name Mangkhut) damaged rice crops valued at P20 billion in 2018, which forced the DA to admit that full-year rice production likely contracted.
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