The corn production in the Ilocos Region in 1st quarter 2023 decreased by 1.74 percent. From the output of 394,071 metric tons in the same period of 2022, it went down to 387,213 metric tons in 1st quarter 2023. The harvest area declined from 64,831 hectares to 63,323 hectares. The yield per hectare also decreased from 6.08 metric tons to 6.11 metric tons.
The provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and La Union recorded positive growth in corn output, while Pangasinan experienced contraction.
About 93.44 percent of the total corn production of the Ilocos Region in 1st quarter 2023 were yellow corn and the rest were white corn. In terms of the area harvested, yellow corn comprised 90.41 percent while 9.59 percent were white corn.
The highest corn harvest in 1st quarter 2023 came from Pangasinan with 63.28 percent share in the total corn production in Ilocos Region. During the period, the province recorded 245,033 metric tons volume of corn production. This is lower by 5.08 percent from the 258,147 metric tons output in the same period in 2022. The harvest area was at 39,046 hectares, of which, 96.16 percent were yellow corn. On the other hand, the yield per hectare went up from 6.24 metric tons to 6.28 metric tons during the period.
Ilocos Sur ranked second among the four provinces of the region in terms of volume of corn production in 1st quarter 2023. The province registered a production of 70,453 metric tons, higher by 8.95 percent from the output in 1st quarter 2022 of 64,667 metric tons. The harvest area increased from 10,909 hectares to 11,646 hectares. The yield per hectare, also went up from 5.93 metric tons to 6.05 metric tons. Yellow corn dominated the corn areas of the province sharing 87.57 percent.
The volume of corn production in Ilocos Norte increased in 1st quarter 2023. The output was posted at 46,570 metric tons, or 0.97 percent higher than the record in 1st quarter 2022 of 46,121 metric tons. The harvest area also went up from 8,217 hectares to 8,340 hectares. Yellow corn comprised 73.20 percent of the total corn area harvested in the province, while the remaining were white corn. However, the yield per hectare decreased from 5.61 metric tons to 5.58 metric tons. The province ranked third in terms of volume of corn production in 1st quarter 2022 with 12.03 percent share.
The province of La Union produced 25,157 metric tons of corn during the 1st quarter 2023. This is 0.08 percent higher than the output in the previous year of the same period. Yellow corn comprised 79.24 percent of the total corn area in the province. The harvest area increased to 4,291 hectares from the 4,308 hectares in 1st quarter 2022. Likewise, the yield per hectare increased from 5.83 metric tons to 5.86 metric tons.
SGD. ATTY. SHEILA O. DE GUZMAN, CPA
Regional Director, RSSO I
