PRODUCTION of palay, or unmilled rice, is expected to come in at 7.32 million metric tons (MT) during the fourth quarter, based on the standing crop as of Nov. 1, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
PSA’s estimates reflect a 0.5% downgrade from the initial 7.35 million MT projected on Oct. 1.
If realized, palay production would drop 1.3% year on year against actual output recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The PSA said that the estimated harvest area for the fourth quarter is expected to decline 1.5% year on year to 1.75 million hectares.
“Based on standing crop for the period October to December 2023, the yield per hectare of palay may improve to 4.17 metric tons or by 2.7%,” it added.
About 1.01 million hectares of the standing crop had been harvested as of Nov. 1, or 57.8% of the land planted to rice.
Production within the harvested area was about 4.35 million MT, it said.
About 7.9% of the crop yet to be harvested was in the vegetative stage, 32.1% in the reproductive stage, and 60.1% in the maturing stage.
Meanwhile, the PSA said corn production is estimated to decline by 2% to 1.94 million MT in the quarter.
The area planted to corn is estimated to decrease 1.9% to 615.98 thousand hectares, while yields are expected to be flat at 3.15 MT per hectare.
The PSA said that about 47.4% or 615.98 thousand hectares of the standing crop has been harvested, producing about 1.01 million MT of corn.
“Of the 323.79 thousand hectares of standing corn yet to be harvested as of Nov. 1, about 1.4% were in the vegetative stage, 43.5% in the reproductive stage, and 55.1% in the maturing stage,” it added. — Adrian H. Halili