Friday, February 02, 2007 Palay production to go down, corn up: BAS By Joy Romares-Sevilla
THE regional office of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) sees an increase in the production of corn, while a decrease in palay production is anticipated during the first quarter of this year.
BAS said the forecast in palay production this year's first quarter is based on the fact that rice farmers have continued to shift to banana. However, corn areas are still expected to be utilized and harvest is expected to increase.
BAS added that the crop forecast is based on farmers' standing crop as of January 1, 2007 and their planting intentions for the period of January to March this year.
Volume of palay in Davao Region, BAS said, may reached a total of 222,400 metric tons from January to June this year, lower by 1.2 percent as compared to the same period last year with harvest area projected to decrease by 7.5 percent.
For this year's first quarter, though harvest area is expected to contract by 13 percent, the yield per hectare is expected to increase by about five percent.
Palay output for the period may also reach to 112,000 metric tons, lower than the 2006 output by 8.6 percent.
The decrease of palay output, on the other hand, is expected in Davao City, Davao Oriental, and Davao del Sur.
Bas monitoring showed that the three provinces were reported to have considerable decreases in would-be harvest areas for the quarter due to the shifting of some areas to banana.
The improvement of yield per hectare are expected in the provinces of Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, and Davao Oriental resulting from the use of hybrid and certified seeds.
Meanwhile, corn output may go up by three percent from January to June this year. Harvest area is also projected to increse by 6.1 percent. All provinces in the region except Davao City and Davao del Sur are expecting output increases from 10.3 percent to 37.8 percent.
BAS is also expecting to record about 58,000 metric tons of corn from April to June this year, based on farmers' planting intentions.
