Rice and Corn Situation and Outlook, April 2017
Palay and corn outputs for January to March 2017 were greater than their 2016 levels by 12.38 percent and 23.44 percent, respectively. The increments were largely attributed to the increase in harvest areas and recovery from the effects of dry spell/drought in 2016.
Outlook from standing crops of both palay and corn indicate higher production in April-June 2017 period. These may bring increments in outputs by 11.13 percent for palay and by 44.58 percent for corn.
Planting intentions of palay and corn farmers for the July-September 2017 harvest may surpass their output levels compared to their respective records in 2016.
Corn
Corn output in January-March 2017 at 2.37 million MT was 23.44 percent higher than the 1.92 million MT record in 2016. Harvest area rose to 696 thousand hectares or by 10.57 percent from the 2016 level of 629 thousand hectares. Yield per hectare improved from 3.05 MT to 3.40 MT.
- Substantial increments were noted in Ilocos Region
(3.36 percent), Western Visayas(0.91 percent), Northern Mindanao(3.52 percent), SOCCSKSARGEN(2.66 percent) and ARMM(12.86 percent). - Increases of harvest areas in Ilocos Region and Western Visayas due to high demand of corn and availability of high yielding varieties (HYV) seeds from DA.
- In Northern Mindanao and SOCCSKSARGEN, there were movements of harvest from the previous quarter to this quarter.
- Marshland areas in ARMM were utilized.
