February 13, 2025

Corn output in Western Visayas, Philippines, dropped by 17.1% year-on-year in Q4 2024

Corn output in Western Visayas, the Philippines, declined by 17.1% in Q4 2024, dropping to 45,978 MT from 55,456 MT in Q4 2023, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-6.

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%.

-  Daily Guardian