THE eggplant production of Ilocos region, the country’s top producer of the vegetable, expanded at an average rate of 3.45 percent from 2012 to 2016, surpassing the country’s average growth output of 2.7 percent during the five-year period.
A new report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country’s total eggplant output managed to rise by an average of 2.7 percent annually despite a 0.5-percent contraction in harvest area during the five-year period.
Philippine eggplant output in 2016 rose by 1.18 percent from 2015 to a record high of 235,630 metric tons (MT).
The PSA report, titled “Crops Statistics of the Philippines 2012-2016,” noted that the growth was driven by increased eggplant production in Ilocos region, which offset the contraction in harvest area.
“The increment could be attributed to additional area planted in Ilocos region given the availability of seeds and sustained usage of high-yielding varieties distributed by the Department of Agriculture through the local government units,” the report read.
The report noted that the Ilocos region registered the biggest production at 87,220 MT (in 2016), which represented 37 percent of total eggplant production in the country.
Total area planted for eggplant in 2016 declined by 2.08 percent to 21,038 hectares, from 21,485 hectares recorded in 2012, PSA data showed.
In contrast, the area dedicated for eggplant production in the Ilocos region posted a five-year average increment of 1.04 percent, reaching 5,111.85 hectares in 2016.
Furthermore, the PSA data showed that the 87,220-MT eggplant output by Ilocos region in 2016 was the highest since 2012.
PSA data also showed that the region sustained an average market share of 35.73 percent from 2012 to 2016, making it the top eggplant-producing region in the country.
Pangasinan remained as the top producer of eggplant in the Ilocos region during the five-year period at an average market share of nearly 83 percent.
From 2012 to 2016 aubergine output in the province went by an average of 2.9 percent. Average annual production during the period reached 67,724 MT.
In 2016 alone Pangasinan produced a total of 72,009 MT of eggplants, 6.84 percent higher than the 67,400 MT recorded in 2015.
In the same report, the PSA said, Ilocos region also remained as the top peanut-producing region from 2012 to 2016, and accounted for nearly 40 percent of total output.
However, the region’s peanut output from 2012 to 2016 declined at an annual rate of 1.17 percent, while area harvested contracted by 0.52 percent.
In 2016 the Ilocos region’s peanut output declined by 3.05 percent to 11,210 MT, from 11,563 MT recorded volume in 2015.
The reduction in the region’s production and area harvested dragged down the country’s total peanut output during the five-year period.
The PSA report noted that total peanut production from 2012 to 2016 decreased at an average annual rate of 1 percent, while total peanut area harvested shrank by an average of 2.6 percent.
“In 2016 peanut production at [27,920 MT] was 4.4 percent lower than the 2015 level of [29,200 MT],” the PSA said. “This was attributed to lesser areas planted in Ilocos region [Pangasinan] due to limited planting materials.”