TUGUEGARAO CITY, Jan. 17 (PIA) — Cagayan Valley Region remains to be the top producer of corn in the whole country and second in rice production, Agriculture Regional Executive Director Lucrecio Alviar reported.

Alviar, in his year end report, said the region was able to harvest 1.6 million metric tons (MT) of corn or 22.98 percent of the total rice productions nationwide, and 2.08 million MT rice production or 12.85 percent of the total production in the country for the year.

He said Isabela province contributed much to the corn production with 1,049,954 MT, followed by Cagayan province with 371,799 MT, Quirino with 120, 967 MT, and Nueva Vizcaya with 58, 966 MT.

In rice, Isabela produced 1,068, 275 MT, followed by Cagayan with 724, 622 MT, Nueva Vizcaya with 218, 446 MT, and Quirino with 73, 423 MT. Batanes province was not reflected in the report.

“We maintained our standing as the number one corn producer in the Philippines but on rice, Central Luzon is the rice granary and they are also number 2 in corn,” Alviar stated.

Alviar is thankful that in 2012, there were no severe typhoons that landed in the region unlike in the previous years when farmers were severely devastated due to strong typhoons or even excessive droughts.

The region also remains an exporter of rice to other regions to augment food demand, especially those regions that were razed by strong typhoons.

At this point, the agriculture department is preparing for the next phenomenon which is the El Nino which might severely affect again the agricultural productions of the region.

Alviar is praying that no severe calamity will hit the region so that it can continue to produce the food demand of the people, not only in the region but nationwide as well.