Davao city: Palay (unhusked rice) production in the Davao Region decreased by 9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 11. The region recorded a production of 113,281.58 metric tons (MT) during this period, down from 124,434.23 MT in the same quarter of 2024.

According to Philippines News Agency, the area harvested for palay also saw a significant decline, estimated at 23,976.12 hectares, which marks an 11 percent decrease from the previous year's 32,512.49 hectares. Despite the decline in production and harvested area, the estimated palay yield improved, reaching 4.72 metric tons per hectare, an increase of 2.3 percent from the 4.62 metric tons per hectare recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The PSA-11 highlighted that the Palay Production Survey (PPS) and Corn Production Survey (CPS) are crucial for generating estimates on production, area, yield, and other essential data used for policy-making and agricultural programs. Davao del Norte emerged as the top producer of palay, contributing 34,875.35 MT or approximately 30.8 percent of the region's total production. Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental followed with productions of 34,019.74 MT (30 percent) and 22,626.64 MT (20 percent), respectively, accounting for a combined total of 80.8 percent of the region's output.

In parallel, the region's corn production also experienced a downturn, with a 5.9 percent decline to 86,916.15 MT, compared to 92,406.56 MT in the same quarter of 2024. The area harvested for corn reduced by 3.8 percent, from 54,922.01 hectares to 52,830.95 hectares. Additionally, the corn yield decreased to 1.65 MT per hectare, a 2.2 percent drop from the previous year's 1.68 MT per hectare.

PSA-11 noted that these surveys are conducted quarterly and encompass sample farming households in various barangays across all provinces in the Philippines.