Palay, corn production to bounce back in H1

After suffering setbacks last year, palay (unhusked rice) and corn production is expected to significantly bounce back in the first half of 2017 due to increase in harvest area and enough water supply following the end of the dry spell.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said palay production for January to June may reach 8.54 million metric tons (MT), up 12 percent from the 7.65 million MT output last year.

Harvest area may expand eight percent from 1.93 million hectares in 2016 and yield may increase to 4.11 MT per hectare from the previous year’s level of 3.96 MT.

Production in the first quarter alone is expected to jump 15 percent while second quarter output is seen to grow by almost eight percent.

“Probable increments in production are foreseen in all regions except Calabarzon. These may be attributed to increase in harvest area and better yield due to adequate supply of water during plant growth and more farmers used high yielding variety seeds,” PSA said.

Increase is par- ticularly expected in Visayas and Mindanao after the drought and the foreseen favorable weather condition in the coming months that may result to more plantings during the cropping period.

Meanwhile, corn production for the first six months is expected to post a 30 percent surge, from 2.83 million MT in 2016 to 3.67 million MT this year as harvest area may expand by 21 percent.

Production for the first quarter is expected to grow by 25 percent to 2.4 million MT from 1.92 million MT last year and harvest area may be larger by about 11 percent.

For the second quarter, corn production is seen to sustain the growth which is seen to escalate by 40 percent.

Probable increase in production is anticipated in almost all regions while harvest area may improve due to more plantings in Northern Mindanao, Davao Region and Soccsksargen in anticipation of sufficient rains.

The PSA said seed support and assistance from the Department of Agriculture ( DA) and local government units will also help sustain the crop’s growth momentum.

Yield may also improve due to usage of high yielding variety seeds and more plantings of yellow corn in Ilocos Region.

Last year, the crop sector and the whole agriculture industry suffered a 1.41 percent contraction following the effects of typhoons.

Crops, which accounted for bulk of total agricultural production, fell 3.32 percent with palay and corn harvest down three percent and four percent, respectively.

Palay production declined to 17.6 million MT while corn production slid to 7.2 million MT.