MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines' unmilled rice output in the third quarter is forecast to rise 32 percent from a year ago to 3.49 million tonnes as better rains result in higher yields from an expanded harvest area, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) said yesterday.
The projected growth in July to September, a lean period for rice production due to the onset of the rainy season, puts less pressure on the country to import more rice this year.
In its quarterly report, the BAS said unmilled rice harvests in January to June were projected to reach 7.61 million tonnes, up nearly 15 percent from a year earlier.
''Brighter prospects are seen for palay (unmilled rice) and corn production, harvest areas and yields for the first half and for the third quarter of 2011,'' the state agency said.
The forecasts were based on a BAS survey of standing crop in the second quarter and farmers' planting intentions in July to September.
Rice output in the second quarter may reach 3.57 million tonnes, 14.2 percent higher from a year ago as continuous above-normal rainfall was expected to help boost production, the BAS report said.
The agency said area harvested in the first half may increase by 10.2 percent from last year's record of 1.82 million hectares, while yield per hectare may improve to 3.8 tonnes from last year's 3.64 tonnes.
Early rains boosted output of the national staple in the first quarter, with production rising 15.6 percent to 4.04 million tonnes, the highest for any March quarter.
That helped lift overall farm output, with the production of the sector growing 4.1 percent in the first three months of the year, the fastest first-quarter growth since 2004. Corn output in the first half was projected to reach 3.3 million tonnes, up nearly 37 percent from a year ago. In the third quarter, production may grow 1.6 percent to 2.36 million tonnes from a year earlier.
Earlier this month, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said the government was maintaining its forecast of a record unmilled rice output of 17.46 million tonnes for the whole year, more than 10 percent higher than in 2010, given favorable weather conditions.
With crops benefiting from inincreased rainfall, the Agriculture department sees farm output this year growing between 4.5 and 5.5 percent, the highest in at least four years, after contracting 0.12 percent in 2010.
Alcala has been consistent in ruling out additional rice imports this year, saying the approved volume of 860,000 tonnes was enough with good harvests and a huge stockpile from last year's purchases.
The Southeast Asian country, the largest rice buyer in recent years, imported a record volume of 2.45 million tonnes in 2010 when rice output fell due to an extremely dry weather.
With the Philippines' limited import requirements, rice prices in the global market have remained largely under control amid a food- and oil-price driven inflation that has caused worries for central bank policy-makers around the region. (Reuters)
(SOurce: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/318667/rice-production-increae-32-higher-yields-expanded-area)
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