he volume of corn production in the Ilocos Region registered higher growth in the 3rd quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year of the same period. The production recorded at 8,422 metric tons, or 18.1 percent higher than the 7,129 metric tons output in the 3rd quarter of 2023. The harvest area increased from 1,678 hectares to 1,843 hectares. The yield per hectare also increased from 4.25 metric tons to 4.57 metric tons.

About 53.2 percent of the total corn production of region in the 3rd quarter of 2024 were yellow corn while the rest were white corn. In terms of the harvesting area, white corn comprised 56.8 percent while 43.2 percent were yellow corn.

The highest corn harvest in 3rd quarter 2024 came from Pangasinan with 40.2 percent share to the total corn production in Ilocos Region. During the period, the province recorded 3,384 metric tons volume of corn production. This is lower by 1.1 percent from the 3,420 metric tons output in the same period in 2023. The corn harvest area of the province was at 660 hectares, lower than the 690 hectares in the same period in 2023. The yield per hectare however, went up from 4.96 metric tons to 5.13 metric tons in the 3rd quarter of 2024 (Table 1).

Ilocos Sur ranked second among the provinces in the region in terms of volume of corn production in the 3rd quarter of 2024. The province registered a production of 3,234 metric tons, higher by 31.7 percent from the output in the 3rd quarter of 2023 with 2,456 metric tons. The harvest area increased from 626 hectares to 747 hectares. The yield per hectare also went up from 3.92 metric tons to 4.33 metric tons.

The volume of corn production in Ilocos Norte increased in the 3rd quarter of 2024. The output was posted at 1,067 metric tons, or 101.4 percent higher than the record in the 3rd quarter of 2023 with 530 metric tons. The harvest area also went up from 141 hectares to 221 hectares. Moreover, the yield per hectare increased from 3.76 metric tons to 4.83 metric tons. The province ranked third in terms of volume of corn production in the 3rd quarter of 2024 with 12.7 percent share.

The province of La Union produced 738 metric tons of corn during the 3rd quarter of 2024. This is 2.0 percent higher than the output in the same period of 2023 with 724 metric tons. The harvest area decreased by 6 hectares from 221 hectares in 2023. However, the yield per hectare increased from 3.27 metric tons to 3.43 metric tons. La Union shared 8.7 percent to the total corn production of the region in 3rd Quarter 2024.

SGD. ATTY. SHEILA O. DE GUZMAN
Regional Director, RSSO 01