Guimaras province produced 14,455.00 metric tons of palay in the first quarter of 2020, or 35.18 percent higher than last year’s production in the same quarter, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
By ecosystem, rainfed palay farms shared the bulk of the production after contributing 70.99 percent to the provincial total produced or 10,262 metric tons of palay.
The remaining 29.01 percent (4,193.00 metric tons) came from irrigated palay farms. (See Figure 1)
Consequently, both irrigated and rainfed palay output increased by 18.75 percent and 43.28 percent, respectively.
The growth in palay production is attributed to the increased area harvested for both irrigated and rainfed rice fields in the province which exhibited 19.83 percent increment, from 4,674 hectares in the first quarter of 2019 to 5,601.00 hectares in the same quarter of 2020. (See Figure 2)
The total palay harvest area in the province for the first quarter of the year is comprised of 75 percent rainfed fields and 25 percent irrigated fields.
Rainfed and irrigated fields likewise increased – 22.30 percent higher in 2020 for rainfed palay and 12.99 percent higher for irrigated palay farms.
In Western Visayas, Guimaras contributed 2.28% to the 632,635.85 metric tons of palay produced, the least contributor among six provinces of the region.
