Palay production drops by 11.0% in the third quarter of 2019

By PSA-8
January 7, 2020

TACLOBAN CITY – Palay production in Eastern Visayas dropped by 11.0 percent, from 117,792 metric tons (MT) in the 3rd Quarter of 2018 to 104,851 MT in 2019.

The province of Leyte contributed the biggest share in palay production in Eastern Visayas at 35,292 MT during the 3rd quarter of 2019 (Table 1). It comprised one third or 33.7 percent of the total palay production in the region. Northern Samar ranked second with 24,540 MT, accounting for 23.4 percent of the region’s total palay production.

Similarly, the total area harvested for palay decreased to 29,696 hectares (Ha) in the 3rd quarter of 2019 from 33,615 Ha recorded in the same quarter of previous year, a decline by 11.7 percent.

All provinces posted decreases in area harvested for palay. Eastern Samar registered the biggest drop by 43.6 percent during the 3rd quarter of 2019. Leyte, Southern Leyte, Biliran and Northern Samar, posted decreases at 18.5 percent, 14.3 percent, 7.0 percent, and 2.3 percent, respectively. Samar recorded the lowest decrease in area harvested for palay by 0.6 percent.

On the other hand, yield for palay in the region slightly increased by 0.8 percent, from 3.50 metric ton per hectare (MT/Ha) in the 3rd Quarter of 2018 to 3.53 MT/Ha in the same quarter of 2019 (Table 1).

Among provinces, Southern Leyte recorded the highest yield per hectare at 4.52 MT/Ha during the 3rd quarter of 2019. This figure was lower by 3.5 percent compared with the 4.68 MT/Ha recorded in the same quarter of 2018.