Palay harvest 36.66% over

PSA production estimate

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, (PIA)—Despite the devastation brought by the el Nino last year, the critical cloud seeding operations may have helped as Bohol’s rice productionas it topped the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) estimated palay production volume by 36.66 percent.

When the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which based its estimate from the 2023 production data, pegged Bohol’s estimated palay production at 234,801.78, another data from Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) showed that the actual production in metric tons for the entire wet and dry seasons reached 370,731.73, or 36% higher than projected.

As to the PSA through Jessamyne Anne Alcazaren, “in 2023, there was 212,718.61 metric tons of production,” and by the following year, coupled with more favorable conditions, Bohol should have some 234,801.78 metric tons of production.”

This is also some modest 10.4 percent increase from the previous year, she added.

Already challenged with the longer than usual dry spell that hit the middle of the wet cropping and stretching to the beginning of the dry season, local farmers have sought the intervention of the government.

Farmer members of established irrigation associations, especially in areas where there are irrigations systems believe, that the government could implement interventions like could seeding program, and supervise the judicious use of irrigation water to salvage what can be salvaged and allow a full cropping support in areas where irrigation water can be channeled to maintain the crops until harvest.

Responding to petitions by farmers, amidst efforts by politicians and bureaucrats who alleged that there is no need for the scientific intervention, the cloud seeding operations, funded by both the national and the local government pushed through, although belatedly.

The PSA, in their survey also showed that all over Bohol, in 2023, palay production reached 212,719 metric tons in both rainfed and irrigated areas; this further expanded to 234,801 hectares in 2024.

In areas harvested with palay, the PSA said in 2023, total irrigated areas harvested totaled 41,625 hectares, which increased 0.3 percent in size by 2024 with 41,738 in 2024.

In rainfed areas, in 2023, Bohol had 28,653 hectares which increased to 30,892 hectares in 2024, a modest increase of area of 7.8% noted.

In 2024, PSA data showed estimates of 72,630 hectares for harvest, something that Boholano farmers again topped with a good 100,865.90 hectares harvested, some 28,235.9 hectares more, as to the data from the OPA. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

MODEST HARVEST. Bohol farmers of BulilisUbay carry their harvest for threshing as the government now rolls out its mechanization program as an effect of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund allocation for farmers. Despite drought, improved rice farming technologies and mechanization plus government subsidy helped in better produce this year as against projected harvest. (PIABohol photo files)