04 July 2024 – QUEZON CITY. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) organized a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) on the Milling Recovery Rate (MRR) from palay to rice and other parameters on 04 July 2024 at the Multifunction Hall 2B, 24th Floor, PSA Headquarters, PSA Complex, East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City.  This activity was spearheaded by the Crops Statistics Division of the Economic Sector Statistics Service and the Agricultural Accounts Division of the Macroeconomic Accounts Service.

The PSA gathered experts from the rice industry from both the government and private sector to solicit inputs and vital information that are useful in the validation of the current parameters used in the compilation of the Supply Utilization Accounts (SUA). The SUA is a comprehensive statistical framework for the physical accounting of agriculture and fishery commodities produced in the country.  

The activity was participated in by the following agencies: UPLB Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center, Bureau of Plant Industry, Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries, Department of Agriculture, International Rice Research Institute, National Irrigation Administration, National Food Authority, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippine Statistical Association, Inc., and Philippine Rice Industry Stakeholders Movement.

The recommendations from this FGD, together with field visit findings from key informant interviews and actual observations of operations of selected rice milling establishments, and other related studies will be inputs in coming up with the updated SUA parameters.  The results from these collective efforts will be presented to the Technical Working Group on Crops Statistics, Interagency Committee on Agriculture and Fishery Statistics and finally, to the PSA Board for approval and adoption.

This activity is in line with the PSA’s commitment for continuous improvement in the production of statistics and indicators on agriculture and fisheries for food security planning and policy formulation in the sector.  Likewise, the PSA acknowledges the importance of strengthening its linkages with its stakeholders that are involved in the improvement of the Philippine rice industry.

- Sectoral Statistics Office