MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines' unmilled rice output is forecast to drop 1.7% to 7.25 million tons in the first half of 2010 from a year earlier, parched by an early dry spell, government data showed on Wednesday.

The harvest area would shrink 46,000 hectares because of insufficient rain, the late release of irrigation water and an early dry spell, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics said on its website.

The world's biggest rice buyer, the Philippines' imports of the grain are seen exceeding 2.4 million tons this year, a record high after the government bought nearly 2.3 million tons from 4 tenders last year and said it would allow private firms to bring in 163,000 tons.