Palay output declines in Q4

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s production of palay (unhusked rice) declined by 1.3 percent in the last quarter of 2020 due to the consecutive typhoons that hit the country.

Based on the seasonally adjusted rice production and prices for October to December 2020 of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), palay output went down to 4.86 million metric tons (MT) from 4.92 million MT in 2019.

This is also 4.3 percent lower than the previous quarter’s 5.08 million MT output.

The decline was attributed to the string of typhoons that hit the country at the tail end of the year that damaged nearly P15 billion in produce.

The Department of Agriculture is hopeful rice production will improve this year as it continues to implement programs to boost production through quality seeds, machinery, farm credit, and extension through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.

It is also banking on the continued implementation of its Plant Plant Plant program to benefit farmers and consumers.

Further, the seasonally adjusted farm gate price for palay was up by 15 percent to P18.56 per kilogram in the fourth quarter. This is 6.4 percent higher than the previous quarter’s level.

The wholesale price of rice was P38.05 per kilo, just slightly above from last year’s P38.04 per kilo.

Similarly, the retail price of P41.29 per kilo was down by 0.8 percent year on year.

While the rice tariffication law has contributed to the decline in retail, prices of rice, it also resulted in farmers losses as farm gate prices plummeted to record levels due to the deluge of cheap imports.