Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the adverse impacts of recent typhoons in the Philippines, the agriculture sector is still projected to grow by 2.5 percent this year.
Also, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported less than 1 percent growth for the farm industry in 2020 even if it has been considered the “most challenging year for the Philippine agriculture sector.”
“We expect a modest growth of 1 percent in 2020. For 2021, we target to attain a conservative 2.5 percent growth,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the global and national economy. But, no matter what happens, people must eat. For this reason alone, agriculture registered positive contributions to the economy compared to the other movers of the economy such as construction, real estate, and manufacturing,” Dar noted.
In 2019, Dar also expected a 2 to 2.5 percent growth but it only ended up 0.7 percent which is a bit higher than the 0.6 growth recorded in 2018.
Earlier in 2020, the agriculture chief aimed a 2 percent growth despite the eruption of Taal Volcano and the billions worth of damages to the hog industry due to African Swine Fever (ASF).
Agriculture sector expected to grow by 2.5% in 2021 – Dar
The COVID-19 pandemic came, and a series of strong typhoons hit the Philippines, further affecting the livelihood of agriculture workers.
“2020 has officially become the most challenging year for the Philippine agriculture sector. Massive stresses faced the country’s farmers and fishers—from volcanic eruption, infectious animal diseases, crop pest infestations, a viral pandemic that resulted in a health crisis, to falling prices of staples, and then finally a series of typhoons in the last quarter,” the DA said.
“But it was also the year when the agriculture sector rose to the occasion and kept the country’s economy afloat with steady and affordable food supply for the population, amid what is possibly the worst economic crisis since World War II,” it added.
Dar said that for 2021, the DA will actively implement the Province-led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension System (PAFES).
Earlier, Dar said that the agriculture sector should grow higher than the country’s population growth rate to ensure food security.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the population rate would decrease to 1.31 percent in 2021 from 1.68 percent in 2016, Perez said.