THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said that the agricultural output of the Philippines has contracted for the second straight quarter in the July to September period.

The PSA said that this is due to the negative performance of crops and fisheries.

According to the statement from the PSA, the value of production in agriculture and fisheries at constant 2018 prices fell by 0.3% in the third quarter.

This followed the 1.2% drop in the second quarter and a reversal of the 1.6% growth last year.

In their statement, they said that crops — which accounted for 54.0% of total production — had posted a 0.4% decline during the period. 

They also noted that the biggest reductions that they were able to note came from sugarcane (-26.4%), potato (-26.0%), mongo (-21.1%), cabbage (-17.5%), and rubber (-12.7%).

Meanwhile, the biggest increases according to the onion as it went up 165.1%, tobacco up 122.1%,  mango up 15.2%, cacao up 5.5%, and pineapple up 3.5%.

On the other hand, the fisheries, which accounted for 14.2%, saw a 6.1% decline on the back of lower production seen in tiger prawn, bigeye tuna, fimbriated sardines, cavalla (talakitok), squid, threadfin bream (bisugo), blue crab (alimasag), and skipjack, among others.

The livestock also showed a 2.5% growth, where they accounted for 16.0% of total production.