SAN FERNANDO City, La Union (PIA) — The strong agricultural performance of Region 1 has contributed to the Ilocos Region’s achievement of over 100 percent food sufficiency in major food commodities such as rice, corn, mango, tomato, onion, mungbean, carabao, cattle, goat, and chicken in 2023, says Department of Agriculture–Regional Field Office 1 (DA-RFO 1).
The Ilocos region boasts exceptional food sufficiency levels, exceeding 100 percent in most categories.
To date, the region’s sufficiency in rice is at 181 percent, 254 percent in corn, 1,204 percent in mango, 193 percent in tomato, 391percent in onion, 158 percent in mungbean, 363 percent in peanut, 506 percent in carabao, 132 percent in cow, 407 percent in goat, 13 percent in chicken, 55 percent in pig, and 68 percent in garlic.
Based on the Agriculture, the Forestry and Fishing (AFF) output is valued at P112.79 billion, contributing 16 percent or P701.47 billion to the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) — the total monetary value of all final goods and services produced in the region in 2023. This data is significantly 3.3 percent higher than in 2022.
The region is still the number one producer of mango, garlic, tomato, eggplant, mungbean, and peanut in the country.
It ranks second in onion and goat production, third in cattle, and fourth and fifth in rice and corn, respectively.
This data was accumulated from the 519,920 hectares of agricultural area in the four provinces of the Ilocos region.
DA-RFO 1 Regional Executive Director Annie Q. Bares said in a “Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas” episode that the department is continuously improving its service to better the agriculture sector in the region.
“Sa abot po ng aming makakaya, kami dito sa DA Ilocos Region ay patuloy na nagbibigay ng mga kalidad na produkto at serbisyo para sa ating 490,287 farmers ng ating rehiyon,” Bares said.
(To the best of our ability, the DA Ilocos Region continuously provides quality products and services to our 490,287 farmers.)
The department aims for the agri-fishery sector to achieve food security for the Filipino people by boosting agricultural production to ensure accessibility to affordable and nutritious food, and also develop the agri-fishery sector as a profitable industry for farmers, fisherfolk, and all stakeholders involved in the value chain.
To achieve this, the DA uses nine strategies: expanding farmland, modernizing production, improving logistics, developing postharvest systems, expanding markets, balancing regulations, data-driven decisions, partnering with stakeholders, and offering accessible financing. (MJTAB/REB PIA Region1)
