TACLOBAN CITY – The province of Leyte has produced the highest volume of corn in the region for the second quarter of this year, a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
Wilma Perante, PSA regional director, said that among the provinces, Leyte produced the highest volume of corn at 14,276 metric tons(MT) which comprised almost two-thirds (65.2 percent) of the total corn production of the region.
Perante said that corn production in Eastern Visayas increased slightly by 0.3 percent from 21,849 MT in the second quarter of 2017 to 21,905 MT in the same quarter of 2018.
Increases were recorded in Samar (7.2 percent), Southern Leyte (3.0 percent) and Eastern Samar (1.9 percent) offset the decreases recorded in Biliran (33.5 percent), Northern Samar (2.2 percent) and Leyte (0.3 percent).
Perante also said that Leyte recorded 64.1 percent (10,315 hectares) of the total corn area harvested during the quarter in review, while Eastern Samar contributed the least (84 hectares) accounting for only 0.5 percent.
Yield per hectare for corn in the region increased by 7.7 percent, from 1.3 MT per hectare in the second quarter of 2017 to 1.4 MT per hectare in the same quarter of 2018,she said.
Biliran, meanwhile, had the lowest volume of production (157 MT) accounting for only 0.7 percent.
“The total harvest area for corn in the region decreased by 2.3 percent, from 16,463 hectares in the second quarter of 2017 to 16,081 hectares in the second quarter of 2018. Contributing largely to this decrease is Biliran with a drop of 26.7 percent,” the director said.
Among the provinces, Eastern Samar posted the highest yield per hectare during the quarter in review at 1.9 MT per hectare. Biliran and Samar registered the lowest yield per hectare at 1.2 MT per hectare, the source concluded. (RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)