April 23, 2009

Philippines total corn production has been increasing at an average of 5.8 percent over the last seven years which is an indication that government efforts joined by various industry stakeholders are paying off, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said.

 

Yap said national corn production reached 6.93 million tonnes last year which surpassed 2007 harvest by more than 200,000 tonnes amid the combined impact of high fertiliser prices and typhoon damage on corn plantations.

 

He said that figures for 2009 are expected to be 7.2-7.4 million tonnes, which is admittedly lower than the original target because of various factors such as the expected decline in corn yields due to the adverse effect of the changing weather patterns.

 

He said that the livestock and poultry sector on the other hand is plagued by high costs and unstable supply of feeds particularly for chicken and swine and the occurrence of diseases and high marketing costs due to inadequate storage, transport and marketing facilities.

 

However, he also said the Department of Agriculture (DA) will continue initiating efforts meant to enhance the vital components of the national and regional corn programs to enable the corn sector and related industries to maximise their full potential for growth and development amidst these adversities.

 

At the core of the DA's enhanced corn sufficiency and security agenda is a stronger focus on the establishment of post-harvest facilities such as corn cob dryers, shellers and provision of farm mechanisation support.

 

Yap said that all these are in a bid to raise the quality of corn produce and trim down post-harvest losses.

 

He said that PHP400 million or half of the National Corn Programme proposed financial programming of PHP817.7 million have been earmarked.

 

He added that this fund allocation is reflective of the DA's policy shift towards pouring more investments in hard infrastructures away from providing soft interventions such as subsidies for corn seeds and microbial inoculates.

 

To attain those targets, he said that an increase average yield of at least six tonnes per hectare in programme areas, reduce post-harvest losses to eight percent and boost corn farmer's income to at least PHP10,000 per hectare by 2010 should be realised.

 

He also said the DA will intensify efforts to promote the use of organic and microbial fertilisers, expand farm lands devoted to corn by opening up new corn areas nationwide.

                    

US$1 = PHP48.732 (Apr 23)