Palay production in La Union went down by 14.74 percent in 2018

The volume of palay production in La Union decreased by 14.74 percent in 2018 at 159,450 metric tons compared with the production in 2017 of 187,015 metric tons. La Union had the least percentage share in terms of palay production among the provinces in Region I. Its share is 9.27 percent of the Region’s total volume of palay production of 1.72 million metric tons. Pangasinan had the biggest proportion with 62.62 percent share, followed by Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur with 16.37 percent and 11.74 percent shares respectively.

Area harvested for palay decreases by 2.29 percent in 2018

The total area harvested for palay in the province in 2018 (37,919 hectares) decreased by 2.29 percent or 891 hectares lower than the 38,810 hectares harvested area in 2017. Regionwide, La Union had the least proportion of harvested area for palay in 2018 with a share of 9.34 percent of the total harvested area in Ilocos Region. Pangasinan had the biggest share with 62.32 percent. Among the four provinces in Region I, only Ilocos Sur exhibited an increase in harvested area for palay from 48,343 hectares in 2017 to 49,004 hectares in 2018 or higher by 661 hectares compared with the area in 2017.

By ecosystem, the volume of palay produced from irrigated farms was higher than the volume of production from rainfed farms. In 2018, about 64.88 percent (103,444 metric tons) of the total volume of produced palay in the province was harvested from irrigated farms while the remaining 35.12 percent (56,006 metric tons) was produced from rainfed farms. Palay produced from irrigated and rainfed ecosystems both showed decrease of 14.47 percent and 15.24 percent respectively from the volume of production in 2017. 

Similarly, the area harvested from irrigated palay dominated the total palay harvested area in the province with 23,629 hectares in 2018. It shows a decrease of 3.41 percent or 833 hectares lower compared with the harvested area in 2017 of 24,462 hectares. Rainfed palay harvested areas slightly went down by 0.40 percent or 58 hectares lesser than the 14,348 hectares harvested in 2017.

Average yield of palay in La Union decreased by 12.86 percent in 2018

The average yield in metric tons per hectare of all palay in La Union went down by 12.86 percent in 2018 at 4.20 metric tons per hectare compared with the average yield in 2017 at 4.82 metric tons per hectare. By ecosystem, both irrigated and rainfed palay registered decreases in its yield. Irrigated palay declined by 11.34 percent from 4.94 metric tons per hectare in 2017 to 4.38 metric tons per hectare in 2018. Likewise, rainfed palay decreased in its yield by 14.97 percent from 4.61 metric tons per hectare in 2017 to 3.92 metric tons per hectare in 2018.

Corn production increases by 1.27 percent in 2018

 Two varieties of corn (white and yellow) were grown in La Union in year 2017 and 2018. The volume of production for all types of harvested corn slightly grew by 1.27 percent from 38,440 metric tons in 2017 to 38,927 metric tons in 2018. 

By crop type, yellow corn recorded a production of 30,948 metric tons or 79.5 percent of the total volume of production for all types of corn in the province in 2018. From the production of 29,795 metric tons in 2017, it shows an increase of 3.87 percent. On the other hand, the volume of production for white corn went down by 7.70 percent from 8,645 metric tons in 2017 to 7,979 metric tons in 2018.

The total harvested area for all types of corn went down by 3.40 percent from 7,411 hectares in 2017 to 7,159 hectares in 2018. By croptype, the area harvested for yellow corn dominated the total corn harvested area of the province with 5,149 hectares in 2018. It accounted for about 71.92 percent of the total harvested area for corn in the province. The area harvested for yellow corn in 2018 is 25 hectares more than the area harvested in 2017 of 5,124 hectares. In contrast, white corn harvested area declined by 12.11 percent or 277 hectares lower than the harvested area a year ago.

Average retail prices of special rice and well-milled rice grew by 2.49 percent and 12.02 percent respectively from January 2017 to December 2018

 The average retail prices per kilogram for special rice and well-milled rice in La Union in year 2018 was PhP55.46 and Php45.85 respectively. From January 2017 to December 2018, the prices of both commodities increased by 6.84 percent for special rice and 11.17 percent for well-milled rice. From the average monthly retail price of special rice in 2017 of PhP53.51, it slightly went up by 3.64 percent or almost two pesos higher than the average price in 2018. Similarly, the average monthly retail price of well-milled rice increased by 14.16 percent or almost six pesos from an average price of PhP40.16 in 2017 to Php45.85 in 2018.

The price of special rice varied from January to April 2017. From May 2017 to March 2018, the average retail prices were stable at PhP53.80 and then gradually increased until September 2018. For well-milled rice, its prices varied from January to September 2017 then stable at PhP42.00 from October 2017 until March 2018. It gradually increased from April to September 2018. Prices for both type of rice gradually decreased during the last quarter of 2018.

Technical Notes

Palay and Corn Production Survey (PCPS) is a quarterly survey that generates estimates and forecasts data on production, area and yield of palay and corn. The survey gathers information on the area planted/harvested and production by ecosystem (palay) and crop type (corn); monthly distribution of production and area harvested; farm household disposition/utilization of production; area of standing crop; planting intention indicator; use of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides; and awareness and availment of program interventions.

Reference Periods

January Survey round – October to December

April Survey round – January to March

July Survey round – April to June

October Survey round – July to September

Production refers to the quantity produced and actually harvested for a particular crop during the reference period.

Area Harvested refers to the actual area from which harvest are realized during the reference period.

Irrigated Farms refer to area with irrigation facilities supplying water through artificial means like gravity, force/power, pump, etc.  Irrigated area become rainfed only, when the irrigation system is no longer operational for the past two (2) years and beyond repair and there is no plan of irrigating the farm.           

Yield refers to the measurement of the amount of agricultural production harvested per unit of land area.

Rainfed Farms refer to area that holds standing water but solely dependent on rainfall for its water supply. It may have dikes that retain rainwater. 

Retail Price Survey intends to collect retail prices of selected agricultural commodities (including rice) and other relevant marketing information at various frequencies at pre-selected major trading centers throughout the country. The prices are gathered from designated trading centers in key city of each region including the National Capital Region (NCR). Outputs of this survey are used in monitoring the current prices at the market level.

Retail Price is the total price charged for goods or products sold to a customer, which includes the manufacturer's cost plus a retail markup. The price when it is sold to the end user for consumption is not for resale through a third-party distribution channel.

 SGD. NIÑO E. TUAZON

  (Supervising Statistical Specialist)

  Officer-in-Charge