The Philippines’ agricultural output grew by 4.7 per cent in the first half of 2008 off the back of greater government investment in the sector, official figures have revealed.
Bananas and pineapples were among the products driving production growth, recording an output rise of 21 per cent and 12 per cent respectively during the six-month period, a Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) performance report published yesterday showed.
BAS said last semester's growth was higher than the 3.74 per cent expansion in the same period in 2007. It added that, at current prices, the gross value of farm production rose during that period by 23.23 per cent to Peso576.960bn from Peso468.192bn in the prior year.
Secretary Arthur Yap of the Department of Agriculture (DA) attributed the sustained growth within the farm sector to “unmatched” government spending in support of President Arroyo's long-term commitments to attaining food sufficiency, stabilising commodity prices and raising farmers' incomes.
'Unmatched farm spending by government in keeping with President Arroyo's SONA commitments since 2001 has fuelled the robust performance of Philippine agriculture at a time of a global food crisis,' Mr Yap is quoted as saying by government news agency PIA. 'While many governments have unfortunately cut investments in agriculture, President Arroyo has been spending more.'
Since President Arroyo took office in 2001, the government has generated 1.3m jobs in the farm sector, built new irrigation facilities covering 146,000 ha and repaired old systems servicing another 980,000ha; constructed 4,000 km of farm-to-market roads and put up 2,347 postharvest facilities, according to the PIA.
The Arroyo government has also established 10,919 Tindahan Natin outlets, 1,533 rolling stores, 31 Bagsakan or drop-off centres and 113 barangay bagsakan stores to give farm producers a direct link to urban markets, the PIA said.
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