April 22, 2008

 

Philippines to raise corn output by 10 percent this year

 

 

The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) is making headway on its plan to hike white corn production by 10 percent under the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) programme.

 

DA Assistant Secretary and GMA-Corn Program National Coordinator Dennis Araullo said intercropping of white corn under coconut trees in 100,000 hectares is making progress in several provinces nationwide.

 

The total national corn target for 2008 is 7.4 million tonnes (MT) wherein 2.88 million MT is white corn and 4.5 million MT is yellow corn.

 

The 7.4 million MT target this year is 10 percent higher than last year's total harvest of 6.7 million MT, said Araullo.

 

The country¡¯s production of white corn last year increased by 130,000 MT to 2.5 million MT from 2.37 million MT in 2006.

 

The DA names top five white corn-producing regions: Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (698,943 MT or 27 percent of the total); Socsksargen (379,165 MT or 15 percent); Northern Mindanao (358,259 MT or 14 percent); Davao Region (234,094 MT or nine percent) and Zamboanga Peninsula (188,463 MT).

 

Intercropping corn under coconut trees is a joint initiative of the GMA-Corn Program and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) which aims to increase incomes of coconut farmers and hike white corn production amid rice price increases.

 

Agriculture secretary Arthur Yap earlier said corn farmers are expected to produce and earn more this year in the light of the grain's tight world supply.

 

Meanwhile, the DA and the University of the Philippines-Los Baños recently forged an agreement to produce and distribute 25,000 bags of open pollinated variety (OPV) white corn varieties to farmers nationwide in time for the wet planting season this May.

 

These seeds are expected to yield 50,000 MT and thus ensure the availability of quality white corn seeds for succeeding plantings.

 

Araullo said that unlike hybrid varieties, seeds from OPV varieties can be "replanted" giving farmers the capability to produce their own quality seeds.