The agricultural sector, which has the largest impact on GDP, has not received government support | Agriculture | Economy

In the second quarter of this year, the performance of agriculture was once again one of the variables that contributed the most to Colombia’s economic growth. According to Dann’s data Agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, forestry and fisheries grew by 10.2%, contributing $15.1 billion to the country’s GDP.

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Despite the positive results, industry players reiterated: The downward trend in international input and raw material prices is beneficial to my country’s agriculture. They added that clear policies are needed to maintain the economic viability of the sector in Colombia.

The Danes documented this in detail Coffee crops are an emblem of the industry’s growth, as they have increased by 25% in annual terms alone. The second quarter contributed a total of $1.2 billion. Positive developments in the livestock sector also led to a 6.5% increase in results from April to June, contributing $3.8 billion.

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Likewise, temporary crops, perennial crops, plant propagation, agricultural and livestock support activities and post-harvest, mixed development (agriculture and livestock) and general hunting and trapping and related service activities They grew at an annual rate of 10.9 percent and contributed $8.9 billion to the state economy in the second quarter.

Jorge Bedoya, president of the Colombian Farmers Association (SAC), said the behavior of the agri-economy was a response to the decline in the cost of agricultural and livestock inputs in the international market.From January to June, fertilizer prices fell by more than 9%, and concentrated feed costs fell by 7.2%.”, he emphasized.

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In addition, he said that the production of chicken, eggs and pork has achieved positive results. Because they have a long growth cycle, they will be given advance notice.so the supply dynamics in the agricultural sector can be more explained by this phenomenon.

“It has a lot to do with what happened in the past, not because of a situation,” he said.

Another point revealed by the union president is the behavior and benefits of climate on certain crops. In this sense, coffee production is favored by this factor, Thanks to lower fertilizer costs and technical assistance from the National Coffee Growers Federationwhich translates into better performance.

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Former Agriculture Minister Andrés Valencia stressed that the growth in agricultural GDP in the second quarter was mainly due to coffee production.Government support for the sector is minimal”.

Experts say that it is the good performance of food that is driving the country’s economic development. For this reason, former Agriculture Secretary Cecilia Lopez stressed: Coffee and Livestock They are two lines that are “surrounded”Negative attitude from the government”.

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“Growth will continue, as the Brazilian frost is always a great opportunity for Colombian coffee growers to get a big boost, albeit a regrettable one. Interestingly, the biggest boost came from sectors that were not the ones targeted by the Ministry of Agriculture’s policies.“Lopez said.

La Nina phenomenon lurks

According to estimates by Upra and Ideam, one of the concerns about the sustainability of agricultural growth is that The La Niña phenomenon will intensify in the last quarter, so there is an urgent need for the government to take measures and policies in this regard.

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Cecilia López said that maintaining the good results will depend on the behavior and intensity of climate phenomena, since the country knows that due to the lack of Tools that allow for flood management systems, excess rainfall, and more.

“I don’t see clear policies on how to deal with structural problems, permanent flooding areas, rain damage areas, and we are doing nothing. These are adaptation policies that should be very strong, especially now that climate change is on the agenda, but it remains an ongoing issue in the discussion.”, he pointed out.

Bedoya explained Growth in the economy and other sectors requires stabilitybecause the health of food producers depends entirely on consumption.

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“We need household consumption and exports to remain good in Colombia. Second, input and credit costs to remain constant or trend downward, which lowers costs and makes it profitable for businesses to continue investing. Third, we depend on the weather.the SAC chairman argued.

Animal Husbandry, Contradictions

Although the overall growth of the livestock industry is positive, industry insiders believe that the contradiction is not in the data, but in the market. Oscar Cubillos, director of planning and economic research at Fedegán, said: The cattle sector grew 4.4 percent due to a slight increase in cattle slaughter.

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“The price of meat has increased very little this year, less than 1%, which has again boosted consumption, not to the level we would like, but at least not negative. This ultimately leads to the sacrifice of animals“, explain.

However, he stressed that in terms of milk, production had improved with an increase of nearly 6.4% during the quarter, The situation is not good for the industry as producer prices are facing a dairy crisis.

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“Milk production has been growing due to more favorable pasture weather, which means more milk. But it is this extra milk that has caused producer prices to fall, but unfortunately, consumer prices have not.“, he concluded.