Corn farmers and traders in the Philippines particularly those belonging to the Philippine Maize Federation Inc. (Philmaize) said they are still waiting fothe government's decision to supply corn grains to other countries.

In a report by local daily Business Mirror, Philmaize President Roger Navarro said exporting corn grains is one of the opportunities that the sector has been looking forward to.

In August 2012 Philmaize asked the government to allow farmers to export around 400,000 tonnes of corn grains so they can take advantage of good prices abroad as well as fulfilling its trade agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA).

In May the Philippines exported 5,000 tonnes of corn feed silage to South Korea. Corn silage, said Navarro, is "low quality feed" given to growing calves.

He said corn silage is composed of 70 % to 80 % corn and its stalk. Everything is chopped and ground to a pulp before being exported by container to other countries.

Allowing the export of corn grains, said Navarrro, would increase market opportunities for locally produced corn. He said corn silage can only be fed to cattle, unlike corn grains which can be used for the manufacture of feeds given to hogs and chicken.

Farmers could not ship out their corn grains until the National Food Authority (NFA) council certifies that there is a surplus of corn.

The NFA cited Presidential Decree 4 as basis for deferring any decision on the request of corn farmers.

The NFA said a technical working group has been formed to study their request

Navarro said because of this policy, the Philippines has already missed out on opportunities to export corn grains. He said one of the possible export destinations for Philippine corn include South Korea.

Meanwhile, Navarro said despite this, the country's corn production remained steady. He allayed fears that the country's corn production was at the level when it could create a glut in market prices.

He said while corn production is on track to attaining the target of 8.45 million tonnes this year, there are concerns on land conversion and climate change that are making corn production unpredictable.

Navarro added that many corn-producing areas in Mindanao that were affected by typhoon Pablo in December 2012 have yet to be rehabilitated. He said around 20 to 23 hectares devoted to corn production were damaged due to Typhoon Pablo.

The government is targeting to produce 5.68 million tonnes yellow corn and 2.76 million tonnes of white corn this year. The Department of Agriculture also said corn sufficiency will be achieved by 2013 with a surplus of 234,000 tonnes.

The government's 2013 budget for the corn program is PHP1.52 billion (US$35.18 million), an increase of 60.33 % from last year's budget.