Kalinga remains top palay producer in Cordillera

Tabuk City, Kalinga – Kalinga remained the top producer of palay in the Cordillera Region based on the data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority for 2023.

This is despite the 1.71 percent decline in production from 2022. From January to December 2022, Kalinga generated 114,804.76 metric tons of paddy.

In 2023, Kalinga contributed 34 percent of the total paddy harvested in the region, having produced 112,839.99 metric tons.

It is succeeded by Apayao with a 23 percent share equivalent to 75,730.27 MT, Abra with 22 percent, or 74,414.98 MT, and Ifugao with 10 percent, or 34,201.71 MT.

Benguet and Mt. Province have the lowest production, with 21,524.15 MT, or 7 percent, for the former and 12,758.56 MT, or 4 percent, for the latter.

Contributing to the decrease in paddy production in the province is the reduction of palay produced from irrigated lands by 1.03 percent.

Rain-fed palay also declined by 353.98 MT percent, while upland palay decreased by 476.54 MT.

As for the palay area harvested, a decline of 0.28 percent was also observed in 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

Meanwhile, for the yield per hectare, it was also observed that it decreased. It was 3.99 metric tons in 2023, which is less than 1.48 percent of the 4.05 metric tons produced in 2022.

“This was due to the decrease in yield per hectare of irrigated paddy from 4.17 metric tons in 2022 to 4.14 metric tons in 2023. Rainfed and upland also decreased from 2.74 to 2.32 metric tons and from 2.00 to 1.58 metric tons, respectively,” PSA-Kalinga noted.

To recall, Kalinga is also the top corn producer in the region, having produced 63,660.19 metric tons from January to December 2023.

Like the palay, the province also recorded a decline in corn production in 2023 compared to the record in 2022.