Palay production down 5% in Q2

MANILA, Philippines — Production of the seasonally adjusted palay (unhusked rice) declined by five percent in the second quarter amid the dry spell in the country.

Based on the seasonally adjusted rice production and prices for April to June of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), palay output fell 5.3 percent to 4.56 million metric tons (MT).

This is also 1.8 percent lower than the previous quarter’s 4.64 million MT.

The lower production was attributed to the reductions in the harvested areas in Mimaropa, Bicol Region and Western Visayas due to inadequate water supply and rainfall during the planting months in the first quarter.

According to the PSA, harvestable palay was adversely affected by the dry spell that brought down production in the said region.

The gross value of palay output also decreased by 23 percent to P63.77 billion due to lower volume of production and price cut.

The seasonally adjusted farmgate price for palay declined by 13 percent to P18.13 per kilogram. This is also eight percent lower than the previous quarter.

The wholesale price of rice was P39.37 per kilogram, up 4.1 percent year on year.

On the other hand, the retail price of  P43.55 per kilo went down by 1.7 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the current price of Filipinos’ main staple continued to be on a downward trend due to the arrival of imports and the recently concluded harvest season.

According to the PSA, the average wholesale price of well-milled rice fell eight percent to P39.14 per kilo in the last week of July.

The average retail price also decreased by 5.8 percent to P42.67 per kilo.

The wholesale price of regular-milled rice fell 10 percent to P35.27 per kilo while the average retail price also decreased by 7.7 percent to P38.38 per kilo.

The average farmgate price of palay continued to drop to P17.76 per kilo.