Manila, Feb. 17 -- Negros Occidental province's palay production decreased by 11.97 percent in 2024 due to the effects of a prolonged dry spell brought by El Nino, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Monday showed.

From January to December last year, total production was only 427,871.60 metric tons (MT).

It was 58,182 MT lower than the 486,053.60 MT total production in 2023.

"Both in irrigated and rainfed palay, the decrease was noted due to the effects of El Nino throughout the province," the PSA report said.

Irrigated palay production dropped by 6.07 percent, from 340,199 MT in 2023 to only 319,542 MT in 2024, while rainfed palay production decreased by 27.73 percent, from 145,854.60 MT in 2023 to only 108,329.60 ...