Palay Production in NorMin Up in Q3

Northern Mindanao’s palay production increased by 36.8 percent in the third quarter of the year as compared to the same period last year, following the implementation of the government’s “Plant Now Pay Later” program.

The region’s total palay output reached 136,331 metric tons from June to August of the present year as compared to last year’s 99,644 metric tons, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), which largely attributed the increase to the government’s hybrid seeds intervention.

Clark Cañete, NEDA-10 chief regional economic specialist, said the loan facility means farmers can already afford the use fertilizer to improve harvest.

With this, Region 10’s total stocks as of July 1 was placed at 1.3 million sacks, estimated to last 46 days based on the region’s daily rice consumption of 28,420 sacks.

Meanwhile, corn farmers were able to fully recover from the ill effects of El Niño and harvested 66,163 metric tons from July to August 2017, Cañete said.

Cañete attributed this to the farmers’ use of modern open pollinated variety of both white and yellow corn seeds.

Meanwhile, coconut by-products exported during the same period increased by 4.95 percent to 121,978 metric tons. They are in the form of activated carbon, coconut chemicals, coconut oil, coconut cream, coconut milk powder, coconut peat, coconut shell charcoal, coconut water, copra cake, dessicated coconut, toasted coconut, fresh young nut, reduced fat coconut, palm fatty acid and sweetened coconut.

The region’s overall production of major crops reached 2.6 million metric tons, exceeding last year’s level for the same three months by 105 percent. The major crops are identified as sugarcane, banana, pineapple, cassava and sweet potato. (PNA/Mark D. Francisco)