THE major vegetable crops that posted the strongest uptick in production during the first quarter were mung beans, native onion, and bitter gourd (ampalaya), the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
In its quarterly bulletin on major vegetables and root crops, the PSA said mung bean production in the three months to March rose 6.2% year on year to 9,168.34 metric tons (MT). The top producer was the Ilocos Region with 35.9% of the crop.
Native onion output during the quarter rose 3.2% to 28,616.16 MT, dominated by Ilocos farmers who accounted for 93.3% of production.
Ampalaya production for the period rose 2% to 18,630.31 MT, led by Central Luzon with 41.8% of the harvest.
Also posting production gains were tomato (95,869.09 MT, up 1.8%) and eggplant (76,119.94 MT, up 1%).
Major declines were reported for potatoes (17,022.18 MT, down 26.4%), Bermuda onion (112,581.43 MT, down 17.2%) cabbage (29,208.55 MT, down 9.6%), cassava (477,676.62 MT, down 7.3%), and sweet potato (115,408.58 MT, down 1%).
In the first quarter of 2021, the PSA said the value of production of the overall farm sector fell 3.3%. Livestock and poultry production dropped 23.2% and 7.4%, respectively. Crop output by value rose 3.3% and that of fisheries rose 0.6%.
The Agriculture department has a target for the farm sector of 2.5% growth in 2021. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave