SUGARCANE maintained its position as Western Visayas’ top crop during the first quarter of this year despite the separation of Negros Occidental. Its production grew by more than one-half, or by 54.5%, from 743,884 metric tons (MT) to 1,148,965 MT in the current quarter, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Regional Statistical Services Office 6 showed.
Iloilo dominated sugarcane output, producing 76.0 percent of the regional harvest at 872,985 MT. Capiz and Antique shared the total remaining 24.0 percent.
Increases were also noted for several other crops: coconut (0.5 percent), watermelon (1.6 percent), tomato (0.8 percent), mango (6.0 percent), cassava (1.2 percent), and jackfruit, young (0.5 percent).
Conversely, banana – the region’s third-highest crop production – declined by 1.3 percent, from 52,113 MT in the first quarter of 2024 to 51,448 MT this year of the same quarter. Likewise, sweet potato decreased by 6.0 percent and squash fruit by 1.8 percent.
Antique topped the coconut production in non-food and industrial crops (NFICs) with 36.0 percent, followed by Capiz (27.7 percent), Iloilo (15.9 percent), Aklan (12.5 percent), and Guimaras (7.9 percent).
Moreover, of the estimated regional production of abaca (358 MT), Aklan contributed nearly all or 93.3 percent. For cacao production (71 MT), Iloilo contributed more than four-fifths, or 83.2 percent.
In terms of selected fruit crops, Iloilo contributed the highest production for banana, watermelon, pineapple, and melon, and was the second-highest contributor for mango and calamansi, while Guimaras had the highest output for mango and calamansi in the first quarter.
Moreover, regional banana production totaled 51,448 MT, with Iloilo contributing the largest share (67.7 percent), followed by Aklan (18.4 percent), Antique (6.9 percent), and Guimaras (4.6 percent). Similarly, watermelon, pineapple and melon production reached 37,428 MT, 1,613 MT, and 1,452 MT, respectively, with Iloilo contributing almost all, or 97.8 percent, 99.2 percent and 99.2 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, mango and calamansi output reached 7,092 MT and 1,335 MT, respectively, with Guimaras contributing 55.7 percent and 54.6 percent, respectively.
Iloilo also topped in major vegetable and root crops (VRC) production, ranging from 45.8 percent to 94.9 percent of the region’s production for each selected VRC such as kamote, tomato, cassava, jackfruit, young, squash fruit, eggplant, and alugbati.
For mungbean, or monggo, Antique led with a 55.1 percent share to the regional production (1,801 MT), followed by Iloilo (42.1 percent), Guimaras (2.4 percent), and the remaining 0.4 percent from Capiz and Aklan./PN
