A Review of the Agriculture Sector in WESTERN VISAYAS

Special Release No. 128
Date Released: November 11, 2004

Number of farms increased by four percent in 2002

The number of agricultural farms in Western Visayas had increased from 411.6 thousand farms in 1991 to 429.5 thousand farms in 2002. On the other hand, the farm area declined from 754.4 thousand hectares to 666.9 thousand hectares. Agricultural land area accounted for 32.4 percent of the region?s total land area. The reduction in the farm area and increase in the number of farms posted a decrease in the average farm size from 1.8 hectares per farm in 1991 to 1.6 hectares per farm in 2002.

The region reported an average of two parcels per farm in 2002.

Iloilo had the highest number of farms

Among the provinces in Western Visayas, Iloilo had the largest number of farms, at 133.5 thousand farms, covering 186.3 thousand hectares of agricultural land. In fact, the total farms for the province accounted for 31.1 percent of the total farms in the region. Areas under agricultural land in Iloilo comprised 27.9 percent of the total land area for the region. Guimaras, which was formerly part of Iloilo had 16.6 thousand farms with an area of 28.5 thousand hectares. The number and area of agricultural farms for these two provinces when combined registered a decrease of 0.6 percent and 14.8 percent, respectively over the 1991 levels. Iloilo was closely followed by Negros Occidental with 132.1 thousand farms and an area of 277.3 thousand hectares. Its number of farms increased by 14 percent while its farm area decreased by about the same percent (13.5 percent) from 1991 to 2002. This province also had the largest farm area in the region (41.6 percent).

Palay was the major temporary crop in the region in terms of area planted

This crop was planted in an area of 471.4 thousand hectares in 292.5 thousand farms. Sugarcane followed next with 43.9 thousand farms reporting, covering 136.1 thousand hectares. Corn ranked third with 68.2 thousand farms, covering 55.7 thousand hectares. These crops were also the top temporary crops in 1991 with the same ranking as in 2002. All the major crops except leguminous plants decreased in terms of area planted, where corn posted the biggest decrease of 53.5 percent from the 1991 estimates.

Sugarcane was the dominant crop in Negros Occidental, the nation?s ?sugar bowl?. This province contributed 86.2 percent of the total area planted with sugarcane in the region. The other provinces in Western Visayas reported palay as their top temporary crop.

Banana was the dominant permanent crop

In terms of the number of trees/vines/hills planted, banana was the dominant permanent crop in the region with eight million hills planted in 228.7 thousand farms. This was lower by 29 percent from the 1991 figure of 11.3 million hills and lower also by 34 percent in terms of the number of farms reporting. Coconut trees followed with 221.4 thousand farms planted with 5.8 million trees. Coffee robusta ranked third with 7.6 thousand farms planted with 3.5 million trees. These crops were also among the dominant permanent crops reported in 1991 in terms of trees/vines/hills planted, in addition to ipil-ipil which placed second in 1991.
Across provinces, banana and coconut were the common top permanent crops. Coconut was the number one crop in Aklan and Antique; banana in Capiz, Iloilo and Negros Occidental; and kalamansi in Guimaras.

Individual system of irrigation was common in Western Visayas

Irrigation was an indispensable means for producing agricultural crops. In 2002, Western Visayas had about 192.9 thousand farms with an irrigated area of 256.4 thousand hectares, or 38.4 percent of the total agricultural land. The most common system of irrigation was the individual system, which supplied water to 50.6 thousand farms with an irrigated area of 94.1 thousand hectares. Communal system of irrigation followed next, with 47.3 thousand farms which covered 47.3 thousand hectares, while the national irrigation system came in third, supplying water to 42 thousand farms, covering 58.9 thousand hectares of agricultural land. There were also a number of farms (89.1 thousand) utilizing other systems of irrigation such as windmills, waterwheels, water fetching, etc.

Hog raising dominated the livestock raising activity

As of March 2003, hog was the dominant livestock raised in Western Visayas. There were 480.1 thousand heads reported being raised in 186.6 thousand farms. The number of hogs tended was 9.9 percent higher than the 1991 hog population of 436.7 thousand.
Carabao raising was the next important livestock activity in the region, with 236 thousand heads tended, despite a decrease of 15.4 percent compared to the 1991 headcount of 278.8 thousand. Similarly, goat raising which ranked third, declined to 154.4 thousand heads in 2002 from 189 thousand in 1991.

In all provinces of Western Visayas except Guimaras, raising of hogs was the top livestock activity. About the same proportion of hogs were raised in Iloilo (32.8 percent) and Negros Occidental (32 percent). On the other hand, the top livestock activity in Guimaras was cattle raising.

http://www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/sr04128tx.html