Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 18) — The country’s production of palay, or rice paddy, is seen to inch up by 0.6% to 7.54 million metric tons in the fourth quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.
In its latest Palay and Corn estimates report, the PSA said this is slightly higher than the 7.49 million MT recorded in the same period last year.
However, the latest estimate is 2.6% lower than the initial projection of 7.74 million MT in the beginning of the quarter, backed by decreased harvest area that may decrease 0.8% to 1.825 million hectares despite a 1.5% to 4.13 MT projected increase in yield per hectare.
On the other hand, corn production is seen to increase by 1.4% to 1.68 million MT in the last quarter. However, this is also a downward revision from PSA’s previous estimate of 1.69 million MT.
In the first nine months of the year, palay production grew 5% to 11.903 million MT, while corn grew 2% to 6.32 million MT.
The Department of Agriculture is projecting rice paddy production to reach 7.42 million MT in the fourth quarter, while for the whole year, total production is seen to reach 19.32 million MT, down from its previous target of 20.34 million MT after a series of typhoons battered the country, mostly affecting rice producing provincesm in the latter part of the year.
For next year, the DA is hoping to produce 20.48 million MT of palay that will be supported by the ₱10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund that will cover distribution of agricultural inputs and equipment, training for farmers, and credit facilities.
