Dry spell may increase Philippine corn output

Rice farmers in the Philippine province of Negros Oriental are encouraged to shift to corn planting this year, in the wake of the mild El Nino hitting the country.

Corn is more resilient to dry weather and has less water requirements than rice, said Provincial Agriculturist Gregoria Paltinca. Water levels in some areas have already started to lower, he said.

Corn requires at least once-a-week irrigation while rice needs a daily irrigation with 3,000 litres of water needed to produce one kg of rice, Paltinca said.

Damage to corn production in Negros Oriental during the second cropping season negligible compared to other provinces which are reeling from the dry spell, he said.

Only farmers who planted their crops ''out of timing'' or outside of the cropping season would have been affected although the losses are minimal, Paltinca said.

Harvesting for the second corn cropping season from October to February has already started, and farmers have more chances of higher yield and crop survival rate if they planted corn during the first cropping season beginning May to September, according to Paltinca.

The province has a total of 11,000 irrigated hectares planted to rice, 50,000 hectares planted to corn, and 3,000 additional areas that are rain-fed, he added.