The January - March 2021 palay production at 131,310.68 metric tons was higher than the 2020 level of 129,152.81 metric tons or an increase by 1.67% (Fig. 1). Harvested area expanded from 27,465.70 hectares in 2020 to 29,120.48 hectares in 2021 of the same quarter (Fig. 2). On the other hand, the yield declined from 4.70 to 4.51 metric tons per hectare or lower by 4.04% (Fig. 3).

The provinces that contributed significant increments in production were Davao del Sur and Davao Oriental Province by 6.37% and 52.60%, respectively.

The increase in output was attributed to increased harvest area in Davao del Sur due to seeds assistance from the Local Government Unit (LGU) thru Rice Comprehensive Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Program while increment in area harvested in Davao Oriental was due to newly cleared irrigation canals on some areas in the province.

About 91.69% of Davao Region’s palay production came from irrigated areas, while the remaining 8.10% and 0.21% were produced from rainfed and upland areas, respectively (Fig. 4).

Production of irrigated palay was registered at 120,400 metric tons during the reference quarter. This was higher by 0.55% than the previous year’s level of 119,739 metric tons. The major producing provinces for irrigated palay were Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro (Fig. 5).

Palay output in rainfed areas was at 10,638.36 metric tons. This was higher than the 2020 level of 9,269.29 metric tons, or by 14.70%. Bulk of the production came from Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental provinces with a total share of 74.21% (Fig. 6).

Upland palay production was registered at 272.17 metric tons. This was higher by 88% from the previous year’s record of 144.77 metric tons (Fig. 7).

Corn production from January – March 2021, at 58,169.34 metric tons, was 1.52% more than the 57,300.42 metric tons recorded production in 2020 (Fig. 8). Harvested area increased from 37,971 hectares to 39,468 hectares or by 3.94% (Fig. 9). However, yield per hectare decreased by 2.33%, from 1.51 metric tons to 1.47 metric tons per hectare (Fig. 10).

Significant increase in production was noted in Davao del Sur and Davao Oriental Provinces. This was attributed to the early harvest of some corn areas in Davao Oriental due to hot weather which hasten maturity, coupled with availability of seeds from DA and LGU in Davao del Sur.

Production of white corn posted 41,052.26 metric tons during the period. This was 2.43% higher than the previous year’s level of 40,080.02 metric tons of the same quarter. The major white corn producing provinces were Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Davao Occidental (Fig. 12).

Yellow corn production was estimated at 17,117.08 metric tons, 0.60% lower than the 2020 level of 17,220.40 metric tons. The top producing provinces were Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur and Davao del Norte (Fig. 13).

Palay Production Survey (PPS) and Corn Production Survey CPS are the major agricultural surveys conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). These generate estimates on corn and palay production, area, yield, and other production-related data that serve as inputs for policy making and programs on palay and corn.

These are quarterly surveys which cover sample farming households in sample barangays in all provinces in the country. Data items gathered from these surveys include production, area planted/harvested and yield by ecosystem and seed type; usage of seeds, fertilizer and pesticides, source of irrigation water and adequacy, monthly distribution of production and area harvested, farm household disposition of production, area with standing crops, farmers planting intention for the quarter, awareness, availment of palay and corn program interventions.

Production refers to the quantity produced and actually harvested for the particular crop during the reference period. For palay and corn, harvested area refers to the actual area harvested during the reference quarter. Area harvested refers to actual area from which production are realized. On the other hand, yield is an indicator of productivity derived by dividing total production by the area harvested.

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