The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the volume of palay or rice production increased by five percent to 5.23 million metric tons in the first three months of the year.

The PSA report also showed that the farmgate price of palay was observed at P24.06 per kilogram, up by 6.7 percent from P22.56 per kilogram recorded in the previous quarter.

In addition, the volume of crop production also saw an increase of 4.9 percent from 23.89 million metric tons to 25.07 million metric tons, which was prompted by a yearly increase in the production of sugarcane at 17.2 percent.

On the other hand, the value of crop production, which shared 57.6 percent to the total value of production in agriculture, declined by 0.3 percent to P247.04 billion, while the value of palay production declined by 2.0 percent.

Poultry production was reported to increase to 705.30 thousand metric tons, up by 6.0 percent from the previous year’s same-period level of 665.54 thousand metric tons. Chicken production, with a 71.8 percent share of poultry production, grew by 7.7 percent.

For its value, it increased by 5.9 percent to P68.76 billion and contributed 16.0 percent to the total value of production in agriculture. Except for duck eggs, all poultry commodities recorded increments in the value of production.

Livestock production, on the other hand, declined by 3.4 percent during the first quarter from 542.31 thousand metric tons due to the 4.3 percent decline in hog production.

Its value, however, contracted by 3.6 percent to P59.46 billion, in particular, the value of hog production posted a 4.3 percent decline.

Likewise, fisheries production also decreased by 0.5 percent to 987.19 thousand metric tons from the 992.33 thousand metric tons output in the same quarter of 2023.

The decline in the volume of fisheries production during the period was mainly brought about by the annual reductions in Bali sardinella (tamban) and milkfish (bangus) at 29.9 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.

The value of fisheries production, which shared 12.5 percent of the total, was estimated at P53.73 billion, down by 1.3 percent during the period.

The Marcos administration earlier approved Administrative Order No .20 which removes non-tariff barriers on the importation of farm products to ensure that local supply is sufficient and prices remain stable due to higher prices of domestic agricultural products.

National Economic and Development Authority Arsenio M. Balisacan stated that this issuance is crucial to ease food inflation, noting that “the government bears the responsibility of utilizing various instruments in its arsenal of policy tools to stabilize prices while performing a delicate balancing act.”