White corn price doubles in W. Visayas as output falls

By Mariela Angella Oladive

ILOILO CITY – Farmgate prices of mature white corn in Western Visayas held at PHP 40 per kilogram in each month of the second quarter of 2026, with the June price more than double the level recorded a year earlier, preliminary Philippine Statistics Authority data show.

The PHP 40 per kilogram price recorded in June was 105.1% higher than the PHP 19.50 per kilogram recorded in June 2025.

No price data were recorded for mature white corn in April and May 2025, leaving June as the quarter’s only year-on-year comparison for the variety.

Prices of mature yellow corn also increased during the quarter, rising from PHP 16.39 per kilogram in April to PHP 18.22 per kilogram in June.

Those prices were 12.3%, 12.2%, and 18% higher than the corresponding prices in April, May, and June 2025, respectively.

The average farmgate price of green white corn, meanwhile, remained above year-ago levels throughout the quarter.

It was priced at PHP 44.01 per kilogram in April, 7.6% higher than a year earlier, before easing to PHP 42.95 per kilogram in May and PHP 40.95 per kilogram in June.

Despite the month-on-month decline, the June price was still 38.7% higher than in June 2025.

The higher farmgate prices came as Western Visayas recorded lower corn output during the quarter.

Regional corn production stood at 20,043 metric tons, down 2.4% from 20,527 metric tons in the second quarter of 2025.

The area harvested fell 13.9%, to 4,322 hectares from 5,020 hectares.

Capiz was the region’s largest corn producer, contributing 10,623 metric tons, or 53% of total production, followed by Antique with 5,108 metric tons, or 25.5%, and Iloilo with 4,018 metric tons, or 20.1%.

Aklan and Guimaras recorded much smaller shares at 236 metric tons, or 1.2%, and 58 metric tons, or 0.3%, respectively.

By type, yellow corn continued to dominate production at 18,963 metric tons, although this was 0.4% lower than the 19,036 metric tons recorded in the second quarter of 2025.

White corn production posted a sharper decline, falling 27.5% to 1,081 metric tons from 1,491 metric tons.

The area harvested for yellow corn decreased 11.8%, to 3,891 hectares from 4,410 hectares, while the area harvested for white corn fell to 431 hectares from 610 hectares.

Farmgate prices refer to the prices farmers receive for their crops at the location of the farm and exclude transport and other marketing costs, according to PSA technical notes.

The PSA classifies white corn as the type grown primarily for human consumption, while yellow corn is used generally as feed grain, mainly for the livestock and poultry industries.

Green corn is harvested before the kernels harden and is sold fresh rather than as dried grain, placing it in a different market from mature corn.

The second-quarter figures reverse the region’s first-quarter performance, when Western Visayas corn output rose 6.5% to 81,253 metric tons and the harvested area expanded 5.7% to 16,653 hectares.

Western Visayas covers Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and Iloilo, following the transfer of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City to the Negros Island Region in 2024.

The PSA labels the second-quarter estimates preliminary, meaning the figures may still be revised in later releases.