TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—Sustained growth in the agriculture sector could help Eastern Visayas weather the current financial crisis, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in the region.
Buenaventura Gosoco, NEDA regional director, said on Friday the regional economy is “going good” and that this could be attributed to the “strong agriculture sector despite the [economic] difficulties.”
Gosoco cited data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) that showed the region posted an increase in the production of its major agricultural products last year that resulted in the region’s good economic performance.
He said that palay production posted an increase of 8.6 percent while coconut production rose by 1.36 percent and corn production by 9.45 percent in 2008 compared to the previous year.
Palay production increased from 948,827 metric tons in 2007 to 1 million MT in 2008, while corn production rose from 88,252 MT to 96,594 MT and coconut production increased from 1.78 million MT in 2007 to 1.80 million MT in 2008.
However, abaca production declined by 4.09 percent, from 24,752 MT in 2007 to 23,739 MT.
Gosoco attributed the decline to the abaca mosaic and abaca bunchy top diseases that continue to plague the region’s abaca industry.
He said commercial fishing declined by 0.54 percent, from 73,642 MT on catch in 2007 to 73,245 MT in 2008.
On the other hand, aquaculture and municipal fishery increased by 11.07 percent and 5.34 percent, respectively, he added.
The region’s aquaculture production reached 37,902 MT in 2008, which was higher than the 34,124 MT in the previous year.
Municipal fishery production also went up from 83,947 MT in 2007 to 88,428 MT last year.
In livestock production, slight decreases were noted in the production of cattle (-8.36 percent), hog (-4.55 percent), goat (-4.2 percent) and duck (-25.46 percent), but there were significant increases in carabao (14.32 percent) and chicken (20.07 percent) production.
Gosoco said these economic indicators showed that so far, the economy of the region is “okay.”
