ILOILO City – The total palay production of Western Visayas in the third quarter of 2023 was estimated at 726,642 metric tons (MT).
It decreased by 14.7 percent or 124,848 MT less compared with the same quarter of 2022, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Region 6.
Likewise, the total area harvested in the third quarter of 2023, estimated at 206,526 hectares (ha), was 13.4 percent lower compared with the same quarter last year.
Total irrigated palay production in the third quarter of 2023 was estimated at 360,236 metric tons. The production decreased by 12.0 percent in comparison with the third quarter of the previous year.
Also, the total rain-fed palay production dropped by 17.1 percent with 366,406 metric tons compared to 2022’s production in the same period.
By ecosystem, irrigated and rainfed harvested areas decreased by 11.0 percent and 15.3 percent, or a reduction of 11,505 hectares and 20,432 hectares, respectively, in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 2022’s total area harvested in the same period.
Among provinces in the region, Iloilo shared 43.4 percent of the region’s total palay production for the third quarter of 2023.
This was followed by Negros Occidental (28.4 percent) and Capiz (12.5 percent). Aklan shared the least proportion with a 1.9 percent share of the region’s palay production.
Of the total palay area harvested in the region, Iloilo contributed the highest palay area harvested with 94,977 hectares. This was followed by Negros Occidental with 51,695 hectares harvested. Antique reported a decrease of 37.2 percent in the total palay area harvested in the region with 5,559 hectares from 8,845 hectares in the same period last year. (PSA/PN)
