April 17, 2007

 

Philippine 1Q corn production up 14 percent

 

 

Philippine corn production in the first three months of 2007 rose to 14 percent to 1.75 million metric tonnes as strong prices have attracted farmers to increase their planting area and achieve the record production target, a senior agriculture official said Monday (April 16).

 

The high first quarter output should help realise a production goal of 6.9 million tonnes for the year set by the agriculture department, said Agriculture assistant secretary Dennis Araullo, who is in charge of the department's corn program.

 

The first quarter harvest area increased 12 percent to 652,000 hectares from last year, as farmers increased their planting area on higher prices, he said.

 

Local corn prices are about PHP12 (US$0.25) a kilogramme, up from the prices of PHP8.50-PHP9.50/kg (US$0.17 - US$0.19) a year ago.

 

According to the latest production survey, second quarter output could drop slightly to 1.05 million tonnes from 1.07 million tonnes last year, as the onset of the rainy season may have discouraged some farmers from planting the grain, Araullo said.

 

To encourage corn planting even during the rainy season, the agriculture department will be distributing 138 units of mechanical dryers, worth PHP120 million (US$2.51 million), in various corn producing areas in the country, he said.

 

On the other hand, Araullo said the country is well on its way of achieving self-sufficiency by 96 percent in corn output by 2008 barring major adverse weather condition, said Araullo.

 

The Philippines produces about 87 percent of its domestic requirement for yellow corn, which accounts for around 70 percent of its total corn output.

 

The remaining 30 percent of the country's corn production is white corn, which has replaced rice in southern areas as a food staple.

 

To boost production of yellow corn, the department has allocated PHP581 million (US$12.17 million) for the year to promote the use of high-yielding corn seeds, Araullo said.

 

This year, corn areas planted to hybrid seeds are expected to reach 573,000 hectares from a planting area of only 494,000 hectares in 2006, he said.

 

Corn accounts for about 55 percent of livestock and poultry feed.