Western Visayas palay up 1.5%, corn rises 11.9%

Palay production in Western Visayas grew 1.5% in 2025, while corn output rose 11.9%, according to separate special releases issued Feb. 6 by the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Regional Statistical Services Office VI.

The PSA said both reports exclude Negros Occidental “consequent to Republic Act No. 12000, also known as ‘Negros Island Act,’” and use the latest available data from the agency’s Palay Production Survey and Corn Production Survey, sourced from OpenSTAT.

For palay, Western Visayas produced 1,485,758 metric tons in 2025, up from 1,463,497 metric tons in 2024.

The region’s total palay area harvested expanded 3.6% to 471,756 hectares in 2025 from 455,553 hectares in 2024.

By ecosystem, irrigated palay production increased 12.6% to 690,616 metric tons in 2025 from 613,342 metric tons in 2024.

Rainfed palay production fell 6.5% to 795,142 metric tons in 2025 from 850,155 metric tons in 2024.

The harvested area for irrigated palay rose 14.0% to 200,210 hectares in 2025 from 175,582 hectares in 2024.

Rainfed palay harvested area declined 3.0% to 271,546 hectares in 2025 from 279,971 hectares in 2024.

Iloilo accounted for 56.4% of Western Visayas palay output in 2025, producing 837,852 metric tons, followed by Capiz with 21.7% or 321,674 metric tons.

The PSA reported the remaining 326,232 metric tons of palay production was shared by Antique at 13.5%, Aklan at 4.9%, and Guimaras at 3.5%.

On harvested area for palay, Western Visayas’ 2025 growth of 3.6% was led by Iloilo, which contributed 2.3 percentage points as its area rose to 266,109 hectares from 255,422 hectares.

Other palay area gains came from Antique with a 0.7 percentage point contribution, Aklan with 0.3 percentage points, and Capiz and Guimaras with 0.1 percentage point each, the PSA said.

In 2025 palay area distribution, Iloilo held 56.4% of total harvested area, Capiz 20.9%, Antique 12.4%, Aklan 6.2%, and Guimaras 4.1%, based on PSA figures.

The PSA’s Table 2 shows total palay area harvested in Western Visayas at 471,756 hectares in 2025, with Aklan at 29,054 hectares, Antique at 58,473 hectares, Capiz at 98,807 hectares, Guimaras at 19,313 hectares, and Iloilo at 266,109 hectares.

For corn, Western Visayas produced an estimated 201,859 metric tons in 2025, up 11.9% from 180,339 metric tons in 2024.

The region’s total corn area harvested grew 11.8% to 44,838 hectares in 2025 from 40,118 hectares in 2024.

By corn type, white corn production rose 25.3% to 8,327 metric tons in 2025 from 6,645 metric tons in 2024.

Yellow corn production increased 11.4% to 193,532 metric tons in 2025 from 173,694 metric tons in 2024.

The harvested area for white corn expanded 14.0% to 3,220 hectares in 2025 from 2,823 hectares in 2024.

Yellow corn area harvested increased 11.6% to 41,618 hectares in 2025 from 37,295 hectares in 2024.

Iloilo was the top corn-producing province in Western Visayas in 2025, accounting for 54.1% or 109,166 metric tons, while Capiz contributed 40.4% or 81,551 metric tons.

Antique contributed 4.5% or 9,077 metric tons of corn output, while Guimaras and Aklan accounted for 0.5% each, the PSA said.

On corn area harvested, Western Visayas’ 11.8% regional increase in 2025 was driven by Iloilo, which contributed 7.4 percentage points as its harvested area expanded 13.6% to 24,710 hectares.

Other corn area contributions came from Capiz with 2.6 percentage points, Antique with 1.6 percentage points, and Guimaras with 0.3 percentage points, while Aklan recorded a 7.7% decline that translated into a negative 0.1 percentage point contribution.