January 15, 2008

Philippine '07 corn output up 10 percent at 6.73 million tonnes

The Philippines produced 6.73 million  tonnes of corn in 2007, up 10 percent on year, as rising prices encouraged farmers to plant more, the Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday (January 15, 2008).

The output, however, is lower from the department's earlier estimate of 6.92 million tonnes.

"We didn't realize the production we were expecting in the last quarter," said Agriculture Assistant Secretary Dennis Araullo, the department's program director for corn.

The lower than expected output in the fourth quarter was mostly due to the ill-effects of extended dry weather in the Cagayan Valley, a major corn-producing region, said Araullo.

Unfavorable weather caused by a series of typhoons in the last quarter also reduced output, he said.

For 2008, the department has set a corn production target of 7.37 million tonnes, a 9 percent improvement over last year's output.

Corn is a major component in livestock and poultry feeds.