Philippines Sees Lower Palay, Corn Output in Q3

MANILA, Philippines — Local palay or unmilled rice production is projected to decrease by 15 percent in the third quarter due to a drop in harvest area, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Latest PSA data showed that palay harvest may decline to 3.19 million metric tons (MT) in the July to September period from 3.75 million MT last year. Its latest projection as of Aug. 1 is also 2.2 percent lower than the 3.26 million MT estimate a month ago. The PSA reported that the palay harvest area, based on standing crop from July to September, may decrease by 15.8 percent to 771,790 hectares from 916,770 hectares in the actual harvested area last year. Despite the decline in harvest area, the yield per hectare for palay could slightly increase to 4.13 MT per hectare from 4.09 MT per hectare. As of Aug. 1, an estimated 113,790 hectares, or 14.7 percent of the 771,790 hectares of the updated harvest area of standing crop, have been harvested. This translates to a palay output of 455,250 MT. The PSA added that of the 1.55 million hectares of standing palay, 60.1 percent were at the vegetative stage, 26.1 percent were at the reproductive stage and 13.8 percent were at the maturing stage. Meanwhile, the country’s corn production may also decline to 2.08 million MT in the third quarter, a 14.4-percent decrease from the 2.43 million in the same period last year. Corn harvest area is also projected to drop to 688,030 hectares, 12.8 percent lower than the 789,240 hectares last year. Similarly, yield per hectare may decline to 3.02 MT per hectare, a 1.6 percent decline from the 3.07 MT per hectare the same period in 2025. About 129,950 hectares of corn area have already been harvested as of Aug. 1, representing about 18.9 percent of the 688,030 hectares of harvest area for standing corn. This translated to about 366,790 MT of corn production. Of the remaining unharvested corn, 39.2 percent were at the reproductive stage, 31.2 percent were at the maturing stage and 29.6 percent were at the vegetative stage. Information Source: Philstar Business