Palay output in Q3 down 10.58%
LOCAL production of palay (unmilled rice) reached 3.79 million metric tons (MT) from July to September this year, down by 10.58 percent from the previous quarter's 4.24 million MT, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported.
Year on year, however, palay output in the third quarter was slightly higher by 0.21 percent from the 3.78 million MT recorded in the same period last year.
Bulk of the output during the period came from irrigated areas, comprising 2.81 million MT of palay or 74 percent of the total production.
Rain-fed areas, meanwhile, produced 25.98 percent of the total, or 986,830 MT of palay.
From January to September, the Philippines produced 12.82 MMT of palay, 2.31 percent higher than the 12.53 MMT posted in the same period last year.
Among the regions, Western Visayas (Region 6) produced the largest volume of palay at 726,643 MT; Soccskargen (Region 12) followed with 407,551.97 MT; Central Luzon (Region 3) with 390,766.27 MT; and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) with 297,324.61 MT.
Central Visayas (Region 7), meanwhile, had the lowest harvest for the period at 28,044.93 MT; Calabarzon (Region 4A) with 36,692.41 MT; and the Cordillera Administrative Region with 48,304.25 MT.
The Department of Agriculture earlier said that production of palay is expected to increase this year. Agriculture Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio Sebastian said that local palay output for 2023 is estimated to reach 20 million MT, or 1.5 percent higher than the 19.7 million MT produced last year.
In terms of buying prices, the average price of palay at the national level went up to P22.16 per kilogram (kg) in August, up by 25.8 percent from the P17.61 per kg posted a year earlier.
Last September 18, the National Food Authority Council chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. set a new price range for buying palay to improve the income of rice farmers in the country.
It was announced that the buying price for dry palay would be P23 per kg from P19 per kg while for wet palay, the buying price would increase to P19 per kg from P16 kg.
