1st quarter palay production in Eastern Visayas declines by 2.1%

By PSA-8
May 23, 2018

TACLOBAN CITY – Palay production in Eastern Visayas declined by 2.1% from 285,616 metric tons (MT) in the first quarter of 2017 to 279,728 MT in the first quarter of 2018. Decreases were observed among all provinces, except in Northern Samar and Southern Leyte, which posted an increase of 12.1% and 4.8%, respectively.

Among the provinces, Leyte produced the highest volume of palay at 147,131 MT, which comprised more than half (52.6%) of the total palay production in the region. Biliran, meanwhile, had the lowest volume of production (1,938 MT) accounting for only 0.7%.

The total harvest area for palay in the region likewise decreased by 0.3%, from 89,139 hectares in the first quarter of 2017 to 88,865 hectares in the first quarter of 2018. Biliran contributed largely to this decrease posting a drop of 83.9%.

Leyte recorded almost two-fifths or 38.8% (34,498 hectares) of the total palay area harvested during the quarter in review, while Biliran contributed the least (429 hectares) accounting for only 0.5%.

Yield per hectare for palay in the region went down by 3.1%, from 3.2 MT per hectare in the first quarter of 2017 to 3.1 MT per hectare in the same quarter of 2018.

Among the provinces, Biliran and Southern Leyte posted the highest yield per hectare during the quarter in review at 4.5 MT per hectare. Eastern Samar registered the lowest yield per hectare at 2.1 MT per hectare.