ILOILO City – Western Visayas’ agricultural sector has shown resilience and adaptability, emerging as one of the top-performing in the country despite a tumultuous year marked by natural calamities and livestock health crises.
In 2024, the region faced a trifecta of challenges: the El Niño phenomenon, the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon, and the African Swine Fever (ASF). Despite these setbacks, Department of Agriculture (DA) regional executive director Dennis Arpia noted a “positive production” across all commodities.
Natural Calamities and Their Economic Toll
El Niño, the most significant challenge of the year, caused an estimated P1.7 billion in losses, hitting farmers and fisherfolk hardest.
The provinces of Iloilo and Antique bore the brunt, declaring a state of calamity as crop yields suffered. Yet, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reveals that Western Visayas still managed to produce 341,844 metric tons (MT) of palay in the third quarter, with Negros Occidental leading the charge at 126,545 MT.
Innovative Interventions: A Key to Recovery
The regional DA has supported farmers through initiatives like the hybrid rice program, clustering projects, and the rollout of the Palayamanan Program, a rice-based integrated farming system funded with P100 million.
In Iloilo, the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project Stage II (JRMP II) promises a long-term boost to agricultural productivity, with an estimated 160,000 MT increase in annual rice output.
“The adoption of new technologies and collective farming approaches has kept our farmers motivated,” said Arpia, emphasizing the role of local government units in sustaining these efforts.
Livestock Sector Bounces Back
Meanwhile, the livestock industry has been recovering from the ASF outbreak, which disrupted hog farming across the region.
Negros Occidental, the region’s top hog producer, is gradually regaining stability, with over 49 affected municipalities upgraded to safer buffer zones.
The DA’s sentineling program, vaccination trials, and artificial insemination centers aim to rebuild farmer confidence and mitigate future risks.
“Though challenges remain, our swine farmers are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Arpia noted, highlighting the field-testing of ASF vaccines as a game-changer for the industry.
A Future-Focused Strategy
With the transition of Negros Occidental to the newly-created Negros Island Region, Western Visayas has a narrower scope but continues to provide support during this transitional phase. The separation may pave the way for a sharper focus on regional agricultural priorities, ensuring that farmers and fisherfolk receive the resources they need to thrive in an unpredictable environment./PN
