Palay production down 4.5% in July-Sept
Credit to Author: Eireene Jairee Gomez| Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2019 17:21:35 +0000
THE country’s palay (unmilled rice) output went down by 4.5 percent to 3.05 million metric tons (MMT) in the third quarter of the year from 3.20 MMT in 2018, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
In its July to September “Palay and Corn Quarterly Bulletin,” the PSA blamed the reduction on the harvest area declining by 9.8 percent to 742,870 hectares (ha) from 824,870 ha in the same period in 2018.
It noted, however, that yield per hectare increased by 6 percent to 4.11 MT per hectare from last year’s 3.88 MT.
“Reduction in palay output was brought by substantial decrements in harvest area in Western Visayas, Soccsksargen and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) at 62,500, 17,470 and 15,470 hectares, respectively,” the PSA said.
The harvest area in Western Visayas dropped by 70.2 percent to 232,080 ha from 780,000 ha a year earlier, according to the agency.
Of the total palay output in the quarter, some 75.6 percent were irrigated, while the remaining 24.4 percent were rainfed.
Rice production from irrigated areas reached 2.31 MMT, up 0.5 percent from its 2018 level.
“Bulk of the increase in the volume of palay production from irrigated areas came from Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Soccsksargen,” the PSA said.
Rainfed palay output reached 750,000 MT, down 17.3 percent from last year’s 900,000 MT. Western Visayas and the ARMM remained its top producers, with a combined output of 59.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the country’s corn production increased by 23.5 percent to 2.72 MMT from 2.21 MMT a year ago.
Harvest area also went up by 11.4 percent to 874,400 MT from 784,930 MT last year. Yield per hectare improved to 3.11 MT from 2.81 MT.
The increase was seen in Cagayan Valley, which registered 440,000 MT, or 141.8 percent year-on-year. The ARMM came next with 120,000 MT.
“The improvement in production was attributed to the increase in harvest areas and yield in these regions,” the PSA said.
Of the total corn production, yellow corn accounted for 69.1 percent, while white corn made up the remaining 30.9 percent.
Yellow corn output reached 1.88 MMT, up 39.3 percent from last year’s 1.35 MMT. The major yellow corn producing regions were Cagayan Valley, Northern Mindanao and Soccsksargen, with a combined 72.9 percent.
White corn production hit 840,000 MT, down 1.5 percent from 860,000 MT in 2018. The bulk or 52.4 percent of total output was shared by Northern Mindanao and the ARMM.