PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., touted the record-high rice production in 2023.

“Dahil sa ating sama-samang pagsisikap, nagtamo tayo ng tala ng ani noong 2023 na umabot sa mahigit 20 milyong metric ton ng palay,” Marcos said.

Marcos made the statement at the ceremonial palay harvesting and distribution of various assistance in Candaba, Pampanga.

According to Marcos, the Philippines was able to record a high production volume of 20.06 million metric tons (MT) of palay in 2023.

This is higher than the 19.76 million MT rice production in 2022.

“Ito ay nagpapakita ng 1.5%, isa’t kalahating porsyento ng pagtaas mula sa nakaraang taon o dagdag na mahigit na 300,000 tonelada ng palay ang naidagdag sa nakaraang taon. Ang pamamahagi ng mas magandang uri ng binhi at pagbibigay ng malawakang suporta sa pataba ay siyang nagbunga ng positibong resulta na ito,” Marcos said.

According to the Chief Executive, the record-high rice volume helped boost the overall value of production in the country’s agriculture and fisheries sectors to P1.763 trillion in 2023, which is higher than the P1.757 trillion level in 2022.

Likewise, Marcos said that the increase of rice production to the government’s distribution of high-quality seedlings and the distribution of fertilizers to Filipino farmers as he emphasized that it shows their dedication and hard work.

Despite the rice production increasing, the country saw the inflation rate accelerate to 19.6% in December last year, the highest in 14 years.

The quickest increase was at the food staple rice, at 22.9%.