February 11, 2008

Philippines launches corn processing centre

The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) announced Friday the inauguration of the PHP33-million (US$813,000) corn post-harvest processing and trading centre in province of Zamboanga del Norte.

The centre is expected to raise grain production as much as 10 percent, which will also raise farmers' income by 50 percent.

An initiative of the Department of Agriculture's (DA) National Agribusiness Corp. (NABCOR) and the local government units in Zamboanga del Norte, the facility will ensure steady supply of corn during the wet season.

Arthur Yap, DA secretary, said the facility will produce premium quality corn grains at 14 percent moisture content, and reduce corn drying and processing costs by at least 50 percent.

Furthermore, Yap explained that it will reduce postharvest losses from 15 percent to 5 percent, which leads to a 50-percent growth in the farmers' income.

Bigger budget allocation for postharvest facilities, according to Yap, is part of the DA's efforts to prioritize on farm-related infrastructure and research and extension work to ease the rural credit squeeze and to open more foreign markets for Philippine produce.

Last year, corn yields increased by 10.77 percent to 6.736 million tonnes with a 21.04 percent hike in revenue at PHP66 billion (US$1.6 billion), despite a prolonged dry spell that had initially threatened to halt farm growth in the last semester of 2007.