Sugarcane output in WV falls 16.7% in Q1 2026

Sugarcane production in Western Visayas fell 16.7 percent in the first quarter of 2026, even as it remained the region’s highest-yielding non-food and industrial crop (NFIC), according to the Philippine Statistics Authority Regional Statistical Services Office VI (PSA RSSO VI).

The region produced 956,856 metric tons of sugarcane in the first quarter of 2026, down from 1,148,965 metric tons in the same period of 2025, PSA RSSO VI said in a special release dated July 8, 2026.

Five of the region’s six top NFICs posted production gains in the quarter, with growth ranging from 2.5 percent to 43.7 percent.

Coconut posted the lowest growth among the five, rising 2.5 percent to 115,005 metric tons from 112,249 metric tons.

Abaca recorded the highest growth, climbing 43.7 percent to 514 metric tons from 358 metric tons.

Coffee production grew 39.2 percent to 150 metric tons from 108 metric tons. Cashew output rose 3.9 percent to 119 metric tons from 114 metric tons.

Cacao production increased 7.7 percent to 76 metric tons from 71 metric tons.

Iloilo led production of two of the top NFICs in the region during the quarter. It accounted for 81.5 percent of the region’s sugarcane output, with Capiz contributing 14.7 percent and Antique 3.8 percent.

Iloilo also led cacao production with a 78.3 percent share of the region’s 76 metric tons, followed by Capiz at 9.6 percent, Guimaras at 5.4 percent, Aklan at 3.7 percent and Antique at 3.0 percent.

Coffee production was shared almost evenly between Capiz, at 48.8 percent, and Iloilo, at 45.5 percent, of the region’s 150-metric-ton total, with Antique at 3.1 percent and Guimaras at 2.6 percent.

Coconut production was more widely distributed: Antique contributed the highest share at 34.0 percent, followed by Capiz at 27.4 percent, Iloilo at 16.0 percent, Aklan at 14.2 percent and Guimaras at 8.4 percent, of the region’s 115,005-metric-ton total.

Guimaras produced 97.2 percent of the region’s 119 metric tons of cashew, with Antique contributing 2.8 percent.

Aklan accounted for 91.8 percent of the region’s 514 metric tons of abaca, followed by Capiz at 5.6 percent, Iloilo at 1.8 percent and Antique at 0.9 percent.

Average farmgate prices for most of the top NFICs in Western Visayas rose in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, PSA RSSO VI said.

Coffee Arabica, Green Coffee Beans posted the highest price growth at 50.1 percent, with its average farmgate price rising to PHP 140.11 per kilogram from PHP 93.33 per kilogram.

Other price increases included: cashew nut without apple, with shell, from PHP 38.33 to PHP 50.00 per kilogram, up 30.4 percent; coconut, young (buko), from PHP 12.41 to PHP 18.15 per kilogram, up 46.2 percent; coconut, matured, from PHP 10.53 to PHP 10.67 per kilogram, up 0.7 percent; coffee Robusta, Green Coffee Beans, from PHP 170.00 to PHP 226.52 per kilogram, up 33.2 percent; and sugarcane muscovado sugar, from PHP 54.01 to PHP 61.37 per kilogram, up 13.6 percent.

Cashew, ripe fruit with nut, was recorded at PHP 40.00 per kilogram and sugarcane for chewing at PHP 3.00 per kilogram in the first quarter of 2026; no comparable data was available for the same period in 2025.

Four commodities recorded price drops during the quarter: abaca, from PHP 52.24 to PHP 50.92 per kilogram, down 2.5 percent; cacao, dry beans, from PHP 274.89 to PHP 121.69 per kilogram, down 55.7 percent; cashew nut without shell, from PHP 466.67 to PHP 400.00 per kilogram, down 14.3 percent; and sugarcane centrifugal sugar, from PHP 51.39 to PHP 42.28 per kilogram, down 17.7 percent.

The data were drawn from the PSA’s Crops Production Survey. The quarterly average farmgate price is the direct arithmetic mean of monthly farm prices from January to March 2026.