The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) – La Union Provincial Statistical Office will conduct the 4^th Quarter 2023 Palay Production Survey (PPS) and Corn Production Survey (CPS), along with the monthly Rice and Corn Stocks Survey: Household (RCSS:H), on 01 to 10 December 2023.

The PPS and CPS are conducted on a quarterly basis while the RCSS:H is conducted monthly. The PPS and CPS are crucial for gathering valuable data on palay and corn production, area, yield, and other production-related factors, which are essential for formulating effective agricultural policies and programs. On the other hand, RCSS: H assesses the current rice and corn inventories in sample households across the country.

The information that will be gathered from these surveys will serve as vital input to the Performance of Agriculture Report (PAR) which will be used to monitor and evaluate the performance of the agriculture sector. Additionally, these data contribute to the preparation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a key indicator of the overall health of the economy. Moreover, the survey supports the data needs of planners, policy and decision makers, and other stakeholders in the agriculture sector particularly the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Agriculture (DA) and its agencies such as Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), and the general public.

In 3^rd quarter 2023, the key results of the PPS in La Union are the following:

• Palay production decreased by 7.42 percent in 3^rd quarter 2023 at 14,143.30 metric tons compared with the production in the same period of 2022 at 15,276.10 metric tons.

• Area harvested for palay in the province went down by 6.06 percent from 3,334.00 hectares in 3^rd quarter 2022 to 3,131.84 hectares in 3^rd quarter 2023.

• Palay’s yield per hectare decreased by 1.31 percent from 4.58 metric tons per hectare in 3^rd quarter 2022 to 4.52 metric tons per hectare in 3^rd quarter 2023.

Meanwhile, the key results of the CPS in La Union in 3^rd quarter 2023 are the following:

• The corn production in the province was posted at 723.54 metric tons which recorded a decrease of 1.29 percent from the 733.00 metric tons production in 3^rd quarter 2022.

• The area harvested for corn increased by 2.48 percent from 215.97 hectares in 3^rd quarter 2022 to 221.32 hectares in 3^rd quarter 2023.

• Corn’s yield per hectare decreased from 3.39 metric tons per hectare in 3^rd quarter 2022 to 3.27 metric tons per hectare in 3^rd quarter 2023.

PSA-La Union will hire and train 14 Statistical Researchers (SRs) who will visit 280 sample palay farming households and 286 sample corn farming households for PCPS, and 120 sample palay farming households, 45 sample corn farming households and 90 sample non-farming households for RCSS: H in various sample barangays in the province.

PSA-La Union enjoins the selected households and agricultural establishments in providing accurate and complete information to ensure the success of these surveys. The data to be collected will be treated with utmost confidentiality and will only be used for statistical purposes and shall not be used for purposes of taxation or investigation as provided under Republic Act (RA) 10625. 

SGD. DANITES E. TEÑIDO, PhD
Chief Statistical Specialist

MAQ/MFC