Corn production in La Union declines in 2021

Two types of corn (white and yellow corn) were grown in La Union in 2020 and 2021. The volume of corn production decreased by 7.12 percent in 2021 at 36,794.16 metric tons from 39,613.00 metric tons in 2020.

As to area harvested for corn in 2021, it declined to 6,848.00 hectares from 7,264.00 hectares in 2020 or a decrease of 5.73 percent.   Likewise, the yield per hectare went down by 1.47 percent from 5.45 metric tons per hectare in 2020 to 5.37 metric tons per hectare in 2021.

On the other hand, Ilocos Region’s volume of corn production improved in 2021.  An increase of 1.40 percent was noted in the region’s volume of corn production from 563,388.00 metric tons in 2020 to 571,259.15 metric tons in 2021.

Among the provinces in Ilocos Region, La Union posted the least volume of corn production in 2021 accounting to 6.44 percent of the total volume of corn production in the region. On the other hand, Pangasinan recorded the largest volume of corn production in the region with 62.71 percent share (358,233.00 metric tons).  Ilocos Sur followed with 19.38 percent share (110,736.00 metric tons) and Ilocos Norte with 11.47 percent share (65,495.99 metric tons).  

Similar with the uptrend from 2020 to 2021 at the regional level, the corn output in the provinces of Pangasinan and Ilocos Sur grew by 2.75 percent and 1.96 percent, respectively while corn output in Ilocos Norte declined by 1.52 percent.

Moreover, the area harvested for corn in Ilocos Region increased by 0.62 percent from 95,166.96 hectares in 2020 to 95,761.00 hectares in 2021. Among the four provinces, La Union had the least share of 7.15 percent to the total area harvested for corn in the region.  Pangasinan occupied the biggest area harvested for corn with 60.98 percent share (58,395.00 hectares) followed by Ilocos Sur with 19.74 percent share (18,903.00 hectares) and Ilocos Norte with 12.13 percent share (11,615.00 hectares). (Figure 3)

From 2020 to 2021, all provinces in Ilocos Region except Pangasinan recorded a decrease in area harvested for corn. The area harvested for corn in La Union, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur went down by 5.73 percent, 1.92 percent and 0.26 percent respectively.

STATISTICAL TABLES

TECHNICAL NOTES

Palay and Corn Production Survey (PCPS) is a quarterly survey that generates estimates and forecasts data on production, area and yield of palay and corn. The survey gathers information on the area planted/harvested and production by ecosystem (palay) and crop type (corn); monthly distribution of production and area harvested; farm household disposition/utilization of production; area of standing crop; planting intention indicator; use of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides; and awareness and availment of program interventions.

Reference Periods

January Survey round – October to December

April Survey round – January to March

July Survey round – April to June

October Survey round – July to September

Production refers to the quantity produced and actually harvested for a particular crop during the reference period.

Area Harvested refers to the actual area from which harvest are realized during the reference period.

Irrigated Farms refer to area with irrigation facilities supplying water through artificial means like gravity, force/power, pump, etc.  Irrigated area become rainfed only, when the irrigation system is no longer operational for the past two years and beyond repair and there is no plan of irrigating the farm.           

Rainfed Farms refer to area that holds standing water but solely dependent on rainfall for its water supply. It may have dikes that retain rainwater. 

Yield refers to the measurement of the amount of agricultural production harvested per unit of land area.

SGD. DANITES E. TEÑIDO, Ph.D.
Chief Statistical Specialist

/MAQ/MFC