KORONADAL CITY -- Palay or paddy rice production in Central Mindanao in the first half of the year was expected to post positive growth over the same period in 2008, the regional Department of Agriculture reported last week.

In its palay production final estimate and forecast by region, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) reported that Central Mindanao's palay production in January to June this year will rose by 4.56% to 525,480 metric tons from 502,552 MT in the first half of 2008.

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Tommy A. Ala, agriculture department acting regional director, attributed the output gains to, among others, the implementation of the government's intervention measures, such as its irrigation maintenance projects for palay production.

The official particularly cited the Arroyo administration's Fields program, the government's centerpiece agenda for food security and sufficiency.

Launched last year at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga, Fields stands for Fertilizer, Irrigation, Extension, Loans, Dryers, and other postharvest facilities, and Seeds.

Only Central Mindanao and Zamboanga Peninsula posted positive production with the same percentage for Mindanao for this year, Mr. Ala said.

Central Mindanao covers the provinces of South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Sarangani.

Zamboanga Peninsula's projected palay harvest for the first half of 2009 will reach 208,140 MT from 199,055 MT last year.

However, the total palay output of Mindanao, which has six regions, in the first half of the year was seen to plunge to 1.712 from 1.714 million MT over the year ago harvest, BAS data showed.

For the first half of 2009, Northern Mindanao expected harvest would be 256,212 MT from 258,057 MT; Davao region 199,885 MT from 202,286; Caraga223,055 MT from 240,590 MT; and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao 299,050 MT from 311,190 MT.

The country was expected to produce a total of 7.37 million MT of palay in the first half of 2009 from 7.12 million MT, or a growth of 3.56%.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap earlier said that all farm sectors posted "output gains" in the first three months of 2009, with palay production rising significantly by 5.13% to 3.94 million metric tons during the quarter.

First-quarter harvests totaled 3,941,180 MT from the previous year's volume of 3,748,850 MT.

In its quarterly report, BAS attributed the increase in palay harvests for the January-March period to, among others, the sufficiency of water supply in irrigation systems and shallow tube wells put up by the government and the availability of seeds under the Agriculture department's dispersal program.

The major sources of production gains for palay were Bicol, Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley, Central Mindanao or Soccsksargen, and the Ilocos Region, the BAS reported.