LOCAL palay (unmilled rice) production for 2023 hit a record of 20.05 million metric tons (MT), which was also the production target set by the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.
The previous record was attained in 2021 with an output of 19.96 million MT. The latest figure was also 1.53- percent higher than the 19.75 million MT of palay produced in 2022.
For 2023, PSA data showed that the country logged the highest palay output during the last quarter, with 7.23 million MT, making up 36 percent of last year's total production.
During the period, majority of the output came from irrigated areas comprising 15.27 million MT of palay or 76 percent of the total production.
Rainfed areas, meanwhile, produced 23.8 percent of the total or 4.77 million MT of palay.
From January to March 2023, total palay production was reported to hit 4.7 million MT, followed by 4.2 million MT recorded in April to June.
The lowest palay output, meanwhile, was recorded in the third quarter at 3.7 million MT, the PSA said.
Among the regions, Central Luzon (Region 3) produced the largest volume of palay at 3.6 million MT, followed by Cagayan Valley (Region 2) with 3.02 million MT and Western Visayas (Region 6) with 2.26 million MT.
Central Visayas (Region 7), meanwhile, had the lowest harvest at 293,073 MT, along with the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) with 331,470 MT and Calabarzon (Region 4A) with 433,399 MT.
This year, the DA has set a local palay production forecast at not lower than 20 million MT to attain record harvest despite the threat of El Niño.
The country's rice inventory, meanwhile, was estimated at 1.90 million MT as of December 1, 2023, the PSA said. This represents a 25.2-percent decrease from the 2.53 million MT inventory in the same period of the previous year.
On a monthly basis, the volume of rice stocks posted a decrease of 4.2 percent from the previous month's inventory of 1.98 million MT.
The agency earlier said that the average price of well-milled rice prices stood at P55.50 per kilogram (kg) at the beginning of 2024, representing a 2.13-percent increase from the P54.34 per kg logged in the early part of December 2023.
The DA said higher rice prices are anticipated as the country is coming from the lean planting season and also depending on grains coming from abroad.
And with prices in the international market continuing to rise, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts the Philippines to remain the top importer of the commodity globally.
"The Philippines is projected to remain the number one global rice importer — taking a record 3.8 million tons — in 2024, followed by China, Indonesia, the European Union, Nigeria, and Iraq," the USDA said in its latest rice outlook report.
Last year, the country imported about 3.56 million MT of rice based on data from the DA-Bureau of Plant Industry.
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