And it wasn't only COVID slowing down the economy, drought conditions also affected agricultural output. And there were trade issues, where cattle could no longer be exported to Guatemala causing a huge downturn in that sector. Here;Here's an overview of the various contractions in housing, agriculture and forestry:
Jacqueline Sabal, Statistician II, SIB
"Within the primary sector agriculture, hunting and forestry contracted by 10.5% or 8.1 million, totaling 68.8 million dollars. The fishing industry declined by almost half as marine exports dropped by 1.8 million dollars. In terms of agriculture Sugarcane product declined as dry weather conditions in 2019 and early 2020 affected crops harvested during this second quarter period. In the case of banana production more favourable weather conditions resulted in improved plant health and development. This coupled in an increase of acreage contributed to a twelve point one percent increased in banana output. Dry weather conditions affected citrus fruit crops which were slow to maturity this year resulting in an extending harvesting period. Subsequently citrus fruit increase by one point three percent. Cattle production declined by sixty eight point nine percent. Poultry production by twenty nine point four percent and pig production fell by sixteen percent during the quarter. Going through each variety individually we observed that with borders closed a significant decline in cattle exports resulted in a 68.9% drop in cattle production from 7,800 heads produced in quarter 2 of 2019, to 2,400 heads produced in 2020. A decreased in demand resulted in a 24.9% drop in poultry production during the second quarter."
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