MANILA, Philippines — The country’s production of palay or unhusked rice and corn is projected to have grown in the first quarter based on latest standing crop figures, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Latest estimates from the PSA showed that palay production from January to March based on standing crop as of Feb. 1 indicated a possible 5.4 percent increase to 4.79 million metric tons (MT), higher than the 4.54 million MT in the same period last year.
The figure, however, is 1.1 percent lower than the PSA’s initial production forecast for the period of 4.84 million MT as of Jan. 1.
Harvest area is projected to increase by 3.3 percent to 1.18 million hectares from 1.14 million hectares last year.
Likewise, yield per hectare may inch up by two percent to 4.06 metric tons (MT) from 3.98 MT.
PSA data also showed that about 1.18 million hectares or 20 percent of the updated standing crop had been harvested.
Of the latest harvested area based on standing crop, the actual production was registered at 917,590 MT.
And of the total area of standing palay to be harvested, 7.6 percent are at the vegetative stage, 48.1 percent at the reproductive stage, and 44.3 percent at the maturing stage.
Meanwhile, the PSA also reported that probable corn production in the first quarter likely reached 2.56 million MT as of Jan. 1, a 4.9 percent increase from 2.44 million MT in the same period last year.
Month-on-month projections remained flat versus the 2.564 million MT production it earlier projected.
The PSA said the harvest area may have increased by 2.9 percent to 690,720 hectares from 671,200 hectares while yield per hectare may have grown by 1.9 percent to 3.74 MT from 3.64 MT.
The agency also reported that around 206,380 hectares or 29.9 percent of the updated standing crop had been harvested, reaching 709,740 MT in actual production.
Of the total 484,350 hectares yet to be harvested, five percent were at vegetative stage, 49.9 percent at the reproductive stage, and 45.1 percent at maturing stage.
Last year, palay production decreased to 19.76 million MT from the record high of 19.96 million MT in 2021.
To address the supply gap, the country imported a record high of 3.8 million MT of rice last year, a majority of which was sourced from Vietnam. This was 38 percent higher than the 2.7 million MT of rice imported in 2021.
The United States Department of Agriculture has raised its forecast on the country’s rice importation to 3.8 million MT this year to address the projected production shortfall due to typhoons and lower fertilizer use.