MANILA — The agriculture and fisheries sector posted a 2.8 percent growth in the third quarter of 2025, driven largely by stronger rice and poultry production, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said the sector’s growth reflects the department’s efforts under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s direction.

“Clearly, we are heading in the right direction. Every quarter we are seeing improvement…So we must be doing something right,” Secretary Tiu Laurel told reporters. “Of course, we have fairly good weather this year and that is also helpful.” He added that he is hopeful palay output, like sugar, could achieve a record harvest this year.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the value of agriculture and fisheries production at constant 2018 prices reached P408.94 billion, up 2.8 percent year on year. Crop production, which accounted for 53 percent of total output, rose 3 percent to P218 billion. Palay output surged nearly 13 percent, while corn production fell 2.9 percent. Total crop volume was estimated at 15.25 million metric tons, up 1.5 percent.

Poultry production continued its recovery, climbing 11 percent to P75.96 billion, with chicken production up 12 percent and egg output rising 7.7 percent. Total poultry volume reached 785,100 metric tons.

In contrast, livestock output remained weak. The value of livestock production fell 1.9 percent to P60.51 billion, while volume dropped 1.6 percent to 514,390 metric tons, as hog output declined 1.4 percent amid lingering African Swine Fever cases. Tiu Laurel said vaccines expected to become commercially available soon, together with the DA’s repopulation plans, could help the sector recover.

Fisheries also saw declines, with production value down 2.7 percent to P54.47 billion and volume contracting 7.5 percent to 894,320 metric tons. The drop was mainly attributed to a 15.7 percent decline in seaweed production, with Tiu Laurel noting that the poor catch was anticipated due to last year’s El Niño.

Barring major weather disruptions in the final quarter, Tiu Laurel said he remains optimistic that the sector will fully recover from last year’s contraction, when growth averaged negative 2.2 percent for the last three quarters of 2024, except for a 0.5 percent increase in the first quarter.