The production of PALAY (unhulled rice) is expected to rise slightly, whereas corn output might decline during the first quarter (Q1, January to March), as compared to the corresponding period in 2024, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
According to the latest predictions, the expected production of palay as of March 1 stands at approximately 4.72 million metric tons (MT), reflecting an increase of about 0.7 percent compared to the 4.69 million MT recorded during the corresponding time frame last year.
This represents a 0.6 percent decrease from the 4.74 million metric tons estimated as of January 1st.
According to the planted crops, the forecasted rice production for Q1 covers an estimated 1.15 million hectares, which represents a decrease of about 2.4% compared to the 1.17 million hectares that were actually harvested during the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
However, the output per hectare could go up to 4.11 MT, which is an increase of 3.0 percent from the prior year’s 3.99 MT, all this assuming the conditions based on crops present in Q1 remain stable.
As of March 1, approximately 634.64 thousand hectares, which represents 56.1% of the total updated harvest area of 1.15 million hectares for standing crops, has been gathered. This amounts to around 2.61 million metric tons of palay production.
As of March 1, out of the total 502.86 thousand hectares of palay still awaiting harvest, 90.7% were in the maturing phase, whereas 9.3% were at the reproductive stage.
Corn production
The estimated corn output for the first quarter could decrease to around 2.41 million metric tons according to the data collected at the start of March. This represents a 4.8 percent reduction compared to the projected yield of 2.53 million metric tons during the corresponding timeframe in 2024.
Nevertheless, this revised forecast for corn production signifies a 0.7 percent rise from the 2.40 million metric tons estimated back on January 1st.
The harvesting area according to the crops still growing in Q1 might decrease to 644.68 thousand hectares, which is an 8.6% reduction from the 705.52 hectares harvested during the same quarter the previous year.
However, the output per hectare could reach 3.74 MT, which is 4.2 percent more than the 3.59 MT from the previous year.
About 395.78 thousand ha or 61.4 percent of the 644.68 thousand ha of updated harvest area of standing corn have been harvested as of March 1. This means a yield of about 1.45 million MT of corn.
Out of the 248.90 thousand hectares of corn still unharvested as of March 1, approximately 94.5 percent were at the maturing stage, whereas about 5.5 percent were at the reproductive stage.