The Philippines reached the largest palay harvest in history last year, with a volume of 20.06 million metric tons, said the Department of Agriculture on Tuesday.

Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority's latest data, palay output last year was 1.5 percent higher than the 2022 volume of 19.76 million MT—a decline from the 2021 harvest of 19.96 million MT.

“Our goal is to push that rice harvest volume further, but that could be a challenge this year because of [the] water shortage we expect due to El Nino,” said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr.

With the country's highest-ever palay yield, the government was able to lower its rice import volume to 3.5 million MT from 3.8 million MT in 2022.

The country is anticipated to consume 13.5 million MT of rice, but DA pointed out that to ensure a 50-day buffer, an extra 1.85 million MT of rice supply is needed.

Moreover, the Philippines also showed a slight increase in most of its agricultural production in the last quarter of 2023, wherein the production value in agriculture grew by 0.7% due to improvements in the production value for crops, livestock, and poultry, while fisheries production declined.