PRODUCTION of palay, or unmilled rice, rose 7.1% year on year to 4.13 million metric tons (MT) in the second quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.
In its Palay and Corn quarterly bulletin, the PSA said the palay harvest area in the country rose 4.4% to 955,838 hectares while yield rose 2.5% to 4.32 MT per hectare.
Palay production in irrigated areas rose 4.3% to 3.52 million MT and accounted for 85.2% of total output.
Central Luzon was the top producer of irrigated palay at 1.10 million MT, followed by Cagayan Valley at 748,534 MT and Bicol Region at 261,435 MT.
Meanwhile, palay output from rain-fed areas rose 26.7% to 609,241 MT, which is equivalent to 14.8% of the country’s entire production.
Eastern Visayas was the top producer of rain-fed palay at 123,389 MT, followed by Bicol Region at 115,379 MT, and CARAGA at 106,755 MT.
CORN PRODUCTION
Corn production also rose 15.4% year on year to 1.35 million MT during the second quarter.
Harvest area for corn rose 3.7% to 390,858 hectares while yield rose 11.3% to 3.46 MT per hectare.
Yellow corn production rose 23.7% to 1.11 million MT and made up 81.8% of total corn production.
Cagayan Valley was the top producer of yellow corn at 443,794 MT, followed by Ilocos Region at 156,680 MT and Central Luzon at 93,585 MT.
Meanwhile, white corn production fell 11.4% to 246,353 MT and accounted for 18.2% of the country’s total output.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was the top producer of white corn at 58,815 MT, followed by Davao Region at 32,183 MT and Northern Mindanao at 25,936 MT.
PRICES
In the same bulletin, the PSA said the average farmgate price of palay in the first half fell 7.7% year on year to P17.42 per kilogram.
“The monthly average farmgate price of palay consistently showed an upward trend from January to May, but settled at a slightly lower price level of P18.90 per kilogram in June,” the PSA said.
The average wholesale price of rice during the first six months fell 5.4% to P38.19 per kilogram, while the average retail price fell 4.8% to P41.85 per kilogram.
For the National Capital Region (NCR), the PSA said the average wholesale price of rice fell 8.6% year on year to P33.23 per kilogram, while the retail price fell 5.8% to P41.48 per kilogram.
The average farmgate price of yellow corn in the similar period fell 11.2% year on year to P12.41 per kilogram.
The wholesale price of yellow corn grain rose 8% to P21.20 per kilogram while the retail price rose 0.7% to P24.88 per kilogram.
The average farmgate price of white corn fell 8.7% year on year to P14.01 per kilogram.
The wholesale price of white corn during the period fell 13.7% to P17.67 per kilogram while the retail price fell 2.1% to P27.55 per kilogram.
Meanwhile, the average dealer’s price for 50 kilograms of urea fertilizer during the first half of the year fell 8.2% year on year to P1,053.79.
The dealer’s price for a 50-kilogram bag of complete fertilizer fell 6.1% year on year to P1,079.27
“The average dealers’ price of ammonium sulphate or ammosul fertilizer from January to June was P594.28 per bag of 50 kilograms, 5.9% lower than the 2019 same quarter record of P631.51,” the PSA said.
“For ammonium phosphate or ammophos fertilizer, the average dealers’ price from January to June was P970.35 per bag of 50 kilograms. This was lower than the dealers’ price of P992.85 per bag of 50 kilograms in the same period of 2019,” it added.
The PSA said earlier this month that the overall output of the country’s crops sector in the second quarter, which includes rice and corn, posted a 5% growth and accounted for 53.7% of total agricultural production. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
