Palay production in llocos Region increased in 1st quarter 2020 compared with its level in 1st quarter 2019 while corn production went down in the same period.

Palay

Palay production in 1st quarter 2020 was registered at 331,421 metric tons, higher than the 330,050 metric tons estimate in 1st quarter 2019. The harvest area decreased from 68,971 hectares to 67,837 hectares due to shifting to other commodities and unrealized planting intentions. Despite the decrease in total area harvested, the positive performance was brought by the increased usage of high quality seeds, availability of free fertilizers and sufficient water supply. The yield per hectare grew from 4.79 metric tons to 4.89 metric tons.

The province of Pangasinan accounted for the biggest proportion of the total palay production of llocos Region in 1st quarter 2020 with 67.61 percent share. lts output during the period, however, decreased by 2.35 percent from 229,460 metric tons in 1st quarter 2019 to 224,067 metric tons in 1st quarter 2020. The harvest area went down from 49,543 hectares to 47,172 hectares due to unrealized plantings intentions in some municipalities in the eastern part of the province. On the other hand, the yield per hectare improved trom 413 metric tons lo 4.75 metric tons.

The province of llocos Norte ranked second in terms of volume of palay production in the region in 1st quarter 2020 with 14.77 percent share. lts output of 48,967 metric tons was 2.43 percent higher than the output in 1st quarter 2019 of 47,805 metric tons. The increase in palay production was due to expansion in area from 9,345 hectares to 9,405 hectares and improvement of the yield per hectare from 5.12 metric tons to 5.21 metric tons. There were free fertilizers distributed by Local Government Units (LGUs) and increased usage of hybrid and high yielding inbred seeds. Sufficient water supply was also noted.

The province of La Union is third highest in terms of palay production in lst quarter 2020 with 9.15 percent of the total palay production in llocos Region. From the output of 23,255 metric tons in the same period in 2019, it grew to 30,330 metric tons. Similarly with llocos Norte, the positive growth in output was contributed by the increased harvest area and higher yield per hectare. From 5,187 hectares harvest area in 1st quarter 2019, it expanded to 6,006 hectares in 1st quarter 2020 due to early release of irrigation water and rehabilitation of irrigation canals. Likewise, the yield per hectare went up by 12.64 percent from 4.48 metric tons to 5.05 metric tons due to increased usage of high quality seeds and sufficient water supply.

llocos Sur recorded the least volume of palay production with 8.47 percent of the total palay production in the region in 1st quarter 2020. lts output during the period went down by 4.99 percent from 29,530 metric tons to 28,057 metric tons due to the decrease in harvest area of 10.89 percent. Some farmers shifted to other commodities like tobacco, cabbage and cauliflower that resulted to lesser harvest area of 5,254 hectares from 5,896 hectares in 1st quarter 2019. The yield per hectare, on the other hand, improved by 6.62 percent from 5.01 metric tons to 5.34 metric tons due to increased usage of high quality seeds, availability of water from irrigation canals, and fertilizer subsidy from LGUs.

Corn

Corn production in llocos Region went down by 6.79 percent in 1st quarter 2020. The output was posted at 376,542 metric tons lower than the 403,957 metrictons output in 1st quarter 2019. Pangasinan and llocos Sur registered lower production. The harvest area decreased from 66,010 hectares to 61,920 hectares due to unrealized planting intentions and movement of harvest to 2nd quarter 2020. The yield per hectare also went down from 6.12 metric tons to 6.08 metric tons.

Pangasinan, which ranked first in terms of volume of production with 65.12 percent share to the total corn production output of llocos Region in 1st quarter 2020, registered lower output during the period. From 262,594 metric tons production in 1st quarter 2019, it went down to 245,191 metric tons due to unrealized planting intentions and movement of harvest to 2nd quarter 2020. The harvest area decreased from 41,696 hectares to 39,324 hectares. Likewise, the yield per hectare went down from 6.30 metric tons to 6.24 metric tons due to insufficient water supply during the vegetative stage.

llocos Sur ranked second with 15.85 percent of the total corn production in the region in 1st quarter 2020. lts corn production went down from 70,619 metric tons in 1st quarter 2019 to 59,688 metric tons this year. Harvesting in some areas was moved to 2nd quarter 2020, thus, harvest area decreased from 11,707 hectares to 9,954 hectares. On the other hand, higher yield per hectare was achieved due to sustained use of high yielding varieties, fertilizer subsidy from LGUs, and sufficient water supply.

llocos Norte accounted for 12.07 percent of the total corn production in the region in 1st quater 2020. It registered a production of 45,466 metric tons, higher than the production of 45,004 metric tons recorded in the same quater of 2019. Despite the decrease in harvest area of 1.09 percent, the improvement in the yield per hectare contributed to the positive growth in corn production of the province. From 5.46 metric tons yield per hectare recorded in 1st quarter 2019, it increased to 5.57 metric tons per hectare this year due to increased usage of hybrid seeds and sufficient water supply.

The province of La Union recorded the least corn production in 1st quarter 2020 with 6.96 percent of the total corn production in llocos Region. From 25,740 metric tons volume of production in 1st quarter 2019, corn production in the province went up to 26,197 metric tons in 1st quarter 2020. The expansion of area by 2.87 percent due to availability of seeds contributed to the increment of corn output. Meanwhile, the yield per hectare decreased by 1.06 percent from 5.91 metric tons to 5.84 metric tons.

SGD. ATTY. SHEILA O. DE GUZMAN

Officer-in-Charge, RSSO I