By Mariela Angella Oladive
Western Visayas’ palay production increased by 10.6% in Q4 2024, reaching 818,569 metric tons (MT) from 740,020 MT in Q4 2023, while corn output declined by 17.1%, dropping to 45,978 MT from 55,456 MT, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-6.
The rise in palay production was driven by a 21.9% increase in rainfed farmlands, which yielded 464,961 MT, up from 381,466 MT last year. Meanwhile, irrigated farms posted a 1.4% growth, producing 358,553 MT compared to 353,608 MT in Q4 2023.
Iloilo province led regional palay production, contributing 45.2% (370,286 MT), followed by Negros Occidental at 24.7% (202,228 MT) and Capiz at 12.8% (104,913 MT). Other provinces had smaller shares, including Antique (8.3%), Aklan (5.1%), and Guimaras (3.9%).
The total palay area harvested in the region expanded by 12.3%, increasing to 242,146 hectares from 215,567 hectares. This growth was driven by a 23.3% rise in rainfed farmlands, where the harvested area increased from 119,771 hectares to 147,631 hectares.
Iloilo accounted for 46.5% of the region’s total harvested land. Capiz recorded the highest contribution to the overall increase, adding 7%, as its harvested area grew from 17,036 hectares to 32,152 hectares.
Corn Production Decline
In contrast, corn production in the region suffered a significant decline, with both white and yellow corn outputs decreasing.
- White corn output dropped by 12.3%, from 17,590 MT to 15,430 MT.
- Yellow corn production fell by 19.3%, from 37,866 MT to 30,547 MT.
The decline in corn production corresponded with a 26.1% reduction in the total harvested area, which shrank from 18,964 hectares to 14,021 hectares.
- White corn fields decreased by 32.2%, from 8,305 hectares to 5,630 hectares.
- Yellow corn fields shrank by 21.3%, from 10,659 hectares to 8,391 hectares.
Negros Occidental remained the region’s top corn producer, contributing 56.5% (25,995 MT) of total production, followed by Iloilo at 26.3% (12,106 MT) and Capiz at 15.5% (7,116 MT).
The other provinces—Antique, Guimaras, and Aklan—had minimal shares, each below 1%.
Negros Occidental also led the decline in corn area harvested, contributing a 29.9% drop to the region’s 26.1% overall decrease. Aklan and Antique saw only slight decreases of 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively.
Iloilo had the second-largest harvested area at 2,748 hectares (19.6% share), followed by Capiz (1,535 hectares) and Guimaras (155 hectares), with respective growth rates of 30.4%, 10.1%, and 59.8%.
