Manila, July 31 -- The Marcos administration's intensified agricultural support and increased areas harvested for palay (unhusked rice) have helped fuel the Philippines' historic-high yield for the first half of the year, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority's (PSA) latest data, the country hit over 9.077 million metric tons (MT) of palay production from January to June, higher than the previous all-time high of 9.026 MT for the same period in 2023, and last year's 8.53 million MT.

Agriculture spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the government's intervention, which is primarily focused on achieving food security and affordability in line with the directive of President Fer...