4% agri growth achievable — Lorenzo

Better farm inputs and more favorable weather will make it possible for the agriculture sector to achieve its four-percent growth target for the year despite the limited growth in the first semester, Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. said yesterday.

"The target growth range of 3.3 to 4.3 percent set under the medium-term development program is doable this year despite a slow pickup in the first half. We expect a better performance in the second semester as this is normally the period when production reaches its peak," said Lorenzo.

He added that the targeted four percent growth will depend largely on the weather and on the acceleration of the implementation of measures aimed at increasing farm yields.

On rice production, the Department of Agriculture is employing a two-pronged approach using the quick turnaround scheme and the early planting strategy after the October-November harvest of the wet cropping season.

Rice program director Francisco Malabanan said palay hectarage will be increased by 70,000 hectares in the second semester from the current 2.3 million required to yield 300,000 metric tons (MT) of palay to make up for the losses incurred in the first six months.

Malabanan said that in November, about 675,000 hectares devoted to rice farming will be using certified seeds and another 125,000 hectares will be planted with hybrid rice varieties.

"This has the potential of giving the country good harvest that could supply 94 percent of our rice requirements," said Malabanan.

On the other hand, rehabilitation of corn farms damaged by major typhoons will enable farmers to harvest at least 120,000 MT.

The fisheries sector is also expected to grow by five percent.

The agriculture sector did not do well in the first semester as extreme weather conditions brought about by the tail-end of the El Niño dry spell and the destruction caused by super typhoons, slowed down the country’s farm sector growth to just 2.4 percent in the first semester compared to the 3.22-percent growth during the same period in 2002.

The same contraction is reflected in the second quarter with only a 1.52-percent growth from April to June this year, way off the 3.43 percent growth during the same period of last year. This was attributed to poor weather that affected key farm areas nationwide.

Production of palay, the country’s major staple, was down 5.13 percent to 5.381 million metric tons (MT) compared to 5.6 million MT in the first half of 2002. This was due to the drought that reduced harvest areas in the major rice-growing regions of Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Bicol and Region 12 composed of North Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City.

In the first six months, the agriculture sector which makes up about a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product cruised along bad weather. The major growth boosters were corn, sugarcane, mango, chicken and municipal fisheries.

The farm output grossed P31.7.7 billion at current prices which was 6.34 percent higher from last year’s P13.1 billion.