Palay production up 12.6% in Q3 after increase in planted area

PRODUCTION of palay (unmilled rice) rose 12.6% year on year in the third quarter to 3.75 million metric tons (MT), aided by a 15.7% increase in the land planted to rice, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Palay output comes in below the PSA’s adjusted estimate of 3.93 million MT issued last month.

Cagayan Valley was the top producer of palay with 499,700 MT or 13.3% of the total. The Western Visayas produced 489,640 MT (13.1%) and Central Luzon 385,100 MT (10.3%).

The three regions accounted for 36.7% of the national total during the quarter.

The harvested area in the third quarter was estimated at 916,770 hectares, up 15.7% from a year earlier.

The Western Visayas accounted for 15.8% or 145,100 hectares of the total palay harvested area, followed by Soccsksargen and the Cagayan Valley with 102,200 hectares (11.1%) and 100,080 hectares (10.9%), respectively.

The yield per hectare of palay in the third quarter declined 2.7% year on year to 4.20 MT.

Cagayan Valley was the top yielding province with 4.99 MT per hectare, followed by the Ilocos Region and Davao Region with yields of 4.95 MT and 4.92 MT, respectively.

The PSA estimates fourth-quarter palay output at 7.06 million MT, which would represent a decline of 2.3% from a year earlier. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel