DA sees Jan.-June palay output up 15%

Palay or paddy rice output will likely top 7.6 million metric tons (MT) in the first six months of year, helped by the La Niña wet spell and measures to improve production, the Department of Agriculture said Wednesday. “We are counting on the beneficial effect of La Niña on wet cropping [production]. I cannot say the exact volume but it will be more than 7.6 (million MT)," said Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala. The estimate is nearly 15 percent more than the 6.62-million MT output during the same period last year. Palay output from January to June may even reach 8 million MT. Apart from ample rain, production was boosted by an expansion of the harvest areas, the department said. Last year, production was compromised by the El Niño phenomenon of a prolonged dry spell, said the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics. Palay output from April to June this year may reach 3.57 million MT, up 14.2 percent from the 3.13 million MT produced in the same period last year. Different areas in the country reported higher output, from 0.6 percent in the Caraga region to 117.8 percent in the Western Visayas. First quarter palay production totaled 4.04 million MT, up 15.6 percent from 3.49 million MT. Third quarter palay production is also expected to increase by 32 percent to 3.49 million MT from 2.65 million MT because of a 35.8-percent expansion in harvest areas to 958,000 hectares from 706,000 hectares. Government also sees palay production at 19.2 million MT in 2012 and at 21.12 million MT in 2013, in line with plans toward rice self-sufficiency by 2013. The Agriculture Department has already asked the Department of Budget and Management to frontload the 2015 irrigation budget by 2012 and the 2016 budget by 2013 in support of the 2013 rice self-sufficiency target. It also asked for a higher irrigation budget of P25 billion for 2012 to push forward country-wide irrigation projects. Only P12.79 billion was allocated for the repair and rehabilitation of irrigation projects this year. — BC/VS, GMA News