BPS: The Agriculture Sector Is Still Resilient Amidst The Pressure Of The COVID-19 Pandemic

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that the performance of the agricultural sector grew positively amid the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic. Agriculture is also the only sector of the five main pillars of gross domestic product (GDP) that grew positively throughout the second quarter of 2020.

Head of BPS Suhariyanto said the contribution of agriculture rose to 15.46 percent in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the contribution of the same period last year of 13.57 percent.

Even so, Suhariyanto said, in general, Indonesia's GDP structure in the second quarter did not change much. He explained that 65 percent of the economy is influenced by five main sectors, namely industry, agriculture, trade, construction and mining.

However, he said, of the five supporting sectors, only agriculture had positive growth. While the remaining four contracted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"So the movement in these five sectors will greatly affect Indonesia's economic growth. Unfortunately, in the second quarter of 2020, only one has positive growth, namely agriculture," he said, in a virtual press conference, Wednesday, August 5.

According to Suhariyanto, when compared to the first quarter of 2020, the agricultural sector grew by 16.24 percent. The growth of this sector is largely influenced by the shift in the main harvest season for food crops, which last year fell in March to April and May this year.

Meanwhile, Suhariyanto explained, of the 17 existing business fields, there are only three business fields or sectors that are still growing positively. The three are agriculture, information and communication, and water supply.

Suhariyanto said that due to the deep contraction, the contribution of the transportation and warehousing sectors actually decreased from 5.57 percent in the second quarter of 2019 to 3.57 percent in the second quarter of 2020.

"The deepest contraction can be seen in the transportation and warehousing sectors," he said.