Climate change impact on corn suitability in Isabela province, Philippines

Climate change is expected to affect agricultural crop production in the Philippines. Several studies were already done to quantify the effect of climate change on agricultural crop production in the country. Most of these studies focus only on the effect of climate change on crop yield. This study estimated the effect of climate change on the area (suitable area) for corn production. Using the Land Use Suitability Evaluation Tool (LUSET), change in corn suitability in the province of Isabela was estimated for the years 2050, 2060, and 2070. Based on the results, climate change will negatively impact corn suitability in the province. Decreasing trend in corn suitability rating was observed due to increasing temperature resulting to loss of highly suitable areas for corn production. For example, during the first cropping season the estimated average decreases in suitability scores due to an increase in temperature were 6.7, 11.4, and 20.7% in the years 2050, 2060, and 2070, respectively. These decreases in suitability resulted in the loss of 6,777 ha highly suitable areas for corn production. © 2016, Korean Society of Crop Science and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.