March 13, 2007

Philippines targets 13 percent rise in 2007 corn output to 6.9 million tonnes

The Philippines aims to produce 6.9 million tonnes of corn this year, up 13 percent from last year, through increased use of high-yielding hybrid seeds, the Department of Agriculture said Tuesday.

The projected output is substantially higher than the department's initial production target of 6.3 million tonnes.

According to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, the department plans to plant an additional 132,000 hectares of corn areas with hybrid seeds in order to meet the new target.

The allocation of additional farmland to hybrid corn is intended to narrow a domestic shortfall in corn for feed use.

If realised, the increased output will help the domestic livestock and poultry sectors cope with the rising cost of feed materials such as corn and wheat in the global market, Yap said in a statement.

Yap said the estimated corn shortfall for this year is about 700,000 tonnes. However, a feed milling industry official earlier put the figure at 1.8 million tonnes.

Last week, Yap granted approval for corn end-users in the country to bring in 400,000 tonnes of corn at zero duty. The current import tariff for corn is pegged at 35 percent.

The Philippines imported about 260,000 tonnes of corn in 2006. Corn is used as a main ingredient in animal feed.