DA: Palay harvest to hit record high this year

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is expecting a record-high palay harvest this year, despite its plan to import 500,00 metric tons of rice to augment the country’s buffer stock due to El Niño.

"Barring strong typhoons in the coming months that may adversely affect Central and Northern Luzon, we are aiming to harvest up to 11.5 million metric tons (MT) in the second semester of the year. This would breach the 20-million MT total national palay production, making it a record, being the highest in the country's history," DA Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio Sebastian said in a statement provided by the Presidential Communications Office.

The agency’s optimism stems from the higher palay output seen in the first half of 2023.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Sebastian said that palay output from January to June 2023 rose to 9.02 million MT, up 3.4% from the 8.7 million MT palay production seen in the same six-month period last year and in 2021.  

The DA executive said that starting the last week of August, the initial harvest of palay from the current wet season crop has commenced and will take place until September, "thus, augmenting rice supply and stabilizing retail prices of the staple."

"The early palay harvest will initially come from three provinces —Isabela, Nueva Ecija, and North Cotabato —producing an estimated 900,000 metric tons," he said.

He added that farmers from these provinces were able to plant early in May.

"Palay harvest will peak in late September to October, contributing largely to the country's second semester (July to December) production, estimated at more than 11 million metric tons," Sebastian said.

While a record harvest is projected for the entire year, the DA called for the importation of 500,000 metric tons (MT) of rice from November 2023 to January 2024 to ensure rice supply amid the El Niño phenomenon.

DA Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla said that some 200,000 hectares of rice area might not be cultivated during El Niño, resulting in the loss of about 500,000 MT of rice.

However, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., who sits as agriculture chief, said that there will be enough rice stock even after the El Niño phenomenon next year.

Explaining the need to import, both Sombilla and Sebastian said the additional supply from importation would be to augment the country’s buffer stock in case of unforeseen events.

Sebastian said the DA will continue to provide rice farmers with needed high-yielding seeds, fertilizers, biofertilizers, soil ameliorants, farm machinery, and extension support, for the coming 2023–2024 dry season, under the Masagana Rice Industry Development Program (MRIDP).

"Starting the next dry season, or in November this year, the DA through the MRIDP will focus on fully irrigated clustered farms to optimize palay yield, where farmers would plant high-yielding hybrid rice varieties to at least one million hectares (ha), and is expected to produce an average of seven to eight MT per hectare, for a total of seven to eight million MT," he said. — VBL, GMA Integrated News