The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) – La Union Provincial Statistical Office conducted its regular quarterly Palay and Corn Surveys namely:  quarterly Palay and Corn Production Survey (PCPS); and monthly Palay and Corn Stocks Survey (PCSS) on December 1-10, 2021. 

The PCPS consists of two national quarterly surveys which are conducted simultaneously. These are the Palay Production Survey (PPS) and Corn Production Survey (CPS).  The PCPS aims to generate estimates on palay and corn production, area harvested, yield and other production-related data while the PCSS is designed to generate estimates of current stocks of palay, rice, corn grains and corn grits in farm and non-farm households. Data collected from both surveys will support and guide the data needs of planners, policy and decision makers, and other stakeholders especially palay and corn farmers.

PSA-La Union hired and trained nine Statistical Researchers (SRs) who visited 280 sample farming households for PCSS and 160 sample farming households and 80 sample non-farming households in various sample barangays in the province.

In view of the on-going Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, hybrid approach of interviewing - a combination of face-to-face and phone interview - using a structured questionnaire was conducted by the SRs. They also strictly abided with the health and safety protocols laid down by the Local Government Units (LGUs) to ensure smooth survey operation.

Meanwhile, the key results for the 3rd Quarter PCPS in La Union are as follows:

• The volume of palay production in La Union in 3rd quarter 2021 was recorded at 12,591 metric tons.  This is 2.76 percent lower than the volume of palay production in the province in the same period of 2020 at 12,948 metric tons.

• The area harvested for palay in the province increased by 3.44 percent from 2,817 hectares in third quarter 2020 to 2,914 hectares in third quarter 2021. The yield per hectare declined by 5.99 percent from 4.60 metric tons per hectare in 3rd quarter 2020 to 4.32 metric tons per hectare in 3rd quarter 2021.

• The volume of corn production in La Union decreased by 1.20 percent in 3rd quarter 2021 at 726.16 metric tons from 735.00 metric tons in 3rd quarter 2020.

• The area harvested for corn in 3rd quarter 2021 also went down to 216.00 hectares from 226.00 hectares in 3rd quarter 2020 or a decrease of 4.42 percent. On the contrary, the yield per hectare expanded by 3.37 percent from 3.25 metric tons per hectare in 3rd quarter 2020 to 3.36 metric tons per hectare in 3rd quarter 2021.

The PSA assured the public that all the data and information collected by the SRs are for statistical purposes only and shall not be used for purposes of taxation or investigation. Information obtained from the respondents shall be accorded strictly confidential as provided under Republic Act (RA) 10625.  ###

SGD. DANITES E. TEÑIDO, Ph.D.
Chief Statistical Specialist