‘PALAY,’ CORN Q4 PRODUCTION FORECASTS REDUCED

Unmilled rice or palay and corn production forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2021 were downgraded, but estimates remained higher than in the same period a year ago, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

The PSA noted its latest estimate was based on standing crops as of Nov. 1, 2021.

Palay production for the October-December 2021 period was expected to reach 7.46 million metric tons, down by 0.9 percent from the previous of 7.53 million MT made a month ago.

The figure, however, was 1 percent higher than the output of 7.39 million MT in the same period last year.

“So while there has been some improvement, it is not very significant,” Raul Montemayor, Federation of Free Farmers national manager, said in a message.

Estimated harvest area for the quarter is said to have dropped by 0.9 percent to 1.8 million hectares while yield per hectare was seen to decrease to 4.15 MT from 4.08 MT.

The same PSA data showed about 1.02 million hectares or 57.2 percent of the updated standing crop have been harvested during the period.

Of the total area of 1.1 million hectares of standing crop for January-March 2022 harvest, 34.7 percent were at the vegetative stage, 21.4 percent at the reproductive stage and 43.9 percent at the maturing stage.

Meanwhile, the PSA reported its corn output forecast for the last three months of 2021 was adjusted to 2.13 million MT from 2.14 million yearon-year.