Philippines To Attain Record Production

Philippines Agricultural Secretary Arthur Yap has expressed confidence that the domestic palay (unhusked rice) production target of 16.8 million MT for 2008 can still be reached despite a significant decline in use of chemical fertilizers.

Yap said the expansion of palay areas to 2.58 million hectares during the wet crop, which is 7.5 % higher than the original target area of 2.4 million hectares, would partially offset the negative impact from the drop in fertilizer usage.

The Agriculture agency also said the 30 % drop in fertilizer usage was the result from the nearly 100 % jump in the cost of petrochemical fertilizers, which was triggered by the upward spiral in crude oil prices in the world market. Yap also noted that the type of seeds used by farmers was also a key factor in increasing palay production.