May 5, 2006

Philippines expects corn output to be up by 35 percent

Corn output in the Philippines is expected to be up 35 percent to reach 2.67 million tonnes for the first half of this year, due to increased planting, the Department of Agriculture said Friday (May 5)

The estimate is slightly higher than an earlier output forecast of 2.63 million tonnes made by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.

Jesus Binamira, programme director for corn at the Department of Agriculture, said the increase from January to June this year can be attributed to the 15 percent increase in planting.

Also, corn yield has improved to 2.58 tonnes/hectare compared with 2.21 tonnes/hectare previously, he said.

Binamira added that the short-lived La Nina phenomenon, which increases rainfall, may have helped boost corn production this year.