Agri production down 1.11% in 2016 – PSA

AFTER almost a decade of consecutive growth, the farm sector contracted for the first time in 2016 as successive typhoons in the last quarter of 2016 took its toll on almost all sectors of agriculture, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.

The farm sector contracted by 1.41 percent in January-December 2016 despite the relatively low base of 0.19 percent a year earlier as the devastating effects of Typhoons Karen and Lawin and the prolonged effect of El Niño depressed crops and fisheries production, the PSA said in the report “Performance of Philippine Agriculture.”