MANILA, Philippines - The country's rice output is forecast to rise 2.7% in the first half of this year on expanded acreage and improved yields, a government report said on Wednesday, suggesting the country would not be importing large amounts this year.

Unmilled rice production may hit 7.782 million tons, above the January-June 2011 level of 7.577 million tons, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) said in a quarterly report.

The expected "wet summer" brought by the La Nina phenomenon would help boost the rice harvest, the report added.

Rice output in the June quarter is forecast to increase by 5.9% from a year earlier to 3.747 million tons, offsetting a projected 0.1% drop in the first quarter.

The Philippines, one of the world's biggest rice importers, has decided to limit this year's rice imports to 500,000 tons, lower than last year's approved purchases of 860,000 tons and almost a fifth of 2010's record imports of 2.45 million tons.

The government will review the 2012 rice import plan by the end of February or in March.

The Agriculture department on Tuesday forecast growth of nearly 11% for unmilled rice production this year to a record 18.46 million tons.

The southeast Asian country, which lost about 1 million tons of unmilled rice in the second half of 2011 due to typhoons, aims to be self-sufficient in the national staple by the end of 2013.

The corn harvest in the first half may rise 5.1% to 3.477 million tons, the BAS said.