WV palay, corn production surges in third quarter 2025

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Regional Statistical Services Office VI released preliminary data on November 28, 2025, detailing a significant increase in both palay (rice paddy) and corn production across Western Visayas for the third quarter of 2025.

Total palay production in Western Visayas experienced a substantial rise of 127.4 percent in the third quarter of 2025. The estimated production reached 489,640 metric tons (MT) in the current period, up from 215,299 MT recorded in the same quarter of 2024.

Correspondingly, the area harvested for palay expanded by 132.6 percent, reaching 145,099 hectares (ha) from 62,392 ha year-on-year.

The growth in output was observed across both palay ecosystems. Rainfed palay production saw a dramatic increase of 192.1 percent, growing from an estimated 99,912 MT in Q3 2024 to 291,808 MT in Q3 2025.

Meanwhile, irrigated palay production also grew significantly by 71.5 percent, moving from 115,387 MT to 197,832 MT during the same period.

For context, “rainfed” area retains water and relies solely on rainfall, while “irrigated” area uses artificial means like pumps or gravity for water supply.

In terms of harvested area by ecosystem, both categories saw expansion in the third quarter of 2025. The harvested area for rainfed palay increased by 188.4 percent, achieving 89,635 ha. Irrigated palay harvested area rose by 77.2 percent, totaling 55,464 ha in the current period.

Among the provinces contributing to the regional palay output of 489,640 MT, Iloilo contributed almost two-thirds of the total production, sharing 61.4 percent.

Capiz followed with a 22.0 percent share, Antique accounted for 9.1 percent, Guimaras for 4.3 percent, and Aklan held a 3.2 percent share of the regional production.

Iloilo was the largest driver of the 132.6 percent overall growth in regional harvested area. Iloilo contributed the highest increase, measured at 95.7 percentage points, recording 89,011 ha in Q3 2025, up from 29,307 ha the previous year. Capiz followed with a 27.9 percentage point contribution, Aklan with 6.1 percentage points, and Guimaras with 5.2 percentage points.

Conversely, Antique recorded a reduction of 2.3 percentage points, with harvested area declining by 10.7 percent from 13,268 ha to 11,848 ha. Out of the total 145,099 ha harvested in Western Visayas, Iloilo’s share was 61.4 percent and Capiz’s was 21.4 percent, with the remaining 17.2 percent shared by the other three provinces.

CORN PRODUCTION SURGES REGIONALLY

In addition to palay, the total corn production for Western Visayas also grew by 29.8 percent in the third quarter of 2025, estimated at 87,923 MT. This is an increase from the 67,729 MT harvested during the same quarter of 2024. The regional area harvested for corn similarly expanded by 37.8 percent, reaching 19,636 ha from 14,247 ha in the previous year.

Both types of corn recorded production increases during Q3 2025. White corn, which is primarily used for human consumption, posted a 41.6 percent increase, rising to 3,239 MT from 2,288 MT. Yellow corn, generally used as feed grains, reached 84,684 MT, marking a 29.4 percent increase from the previous year’s harvest of 65,442 MT.

The harvested area for both white and yellow corn also expanded. White corn area grew by 30.7 percent, reaching 1,193 ha from 913 ha in 2024.

The area harvested for yellow corn rose by 38.3 percent, increasing from 13,334 ha in Q3 2024 to 18,443 ha in the current period.

Among the provinces, Iloilo was the highest contributor to the regional corn output of 87,922 MT (based on provincial distribution data) or 87,923 MT (based on total production data), accounting for more than one-half, or 53.0 percent.

Capiz followed with 43.9 percent, Antique with 2.3 percent, Guimaras with 0.5 percent, and Aklan with 0.3 percent.

Contributing to the overall regional growth of 37.8 percent in corn area harvested, Iloilo shared the highest contribution at 20.3 percentage points, expanding its harvested area to 10,887 ha from 7,990 ha.

Capiz contributed 14.3 percentage points (increasing to 7,982 ha from 5,940 ha), Antique 2.7 percentage points (increasing to 496 ha from 113 ha), and Guimaras 0.6 percentage points (increasing to 191 ha from 110 ha).

Antique recorded the largest year-on-year growth rate for area harvested at 338.9 percent. Aklan, however, recorded a slight decline, contributing -0.1 percentage points (decreasing to 80 ha from 94 ha).

Iloilo and Capiz combined accounted for 96.1 percent of the total harvested area in the region, with Iloilo taking 55.5 percent and Capiz 40.6 percent.