August 25, 2010

Philippines' Visayas aims to raise corn output

Increasing the harvest of white corn to an average of three tonnes per hectare can make central Visayas self-sufficient in food, said Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala on Tuesday (Aug 24).

"When achieved, we could ease the pressure on rice supply, and lessen our imports," the DA chief added.

The current average yield of corn in Central Visayas is less than one tonne per hectare, according to the DA Region 7 corn programme group.

In the central Visayas, 164,770 hectares are planted to corn, particularly in the four provinces of Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.

Of the total, 95% or 157,110 hectares are devoted to white corn, the region's major staple, while the rest is planted in yellow corn for animal feed.

Last year, the region's total corn area harvested reached 231,473 hectares, with the output placed at 186,479 tonnes of both white and yellow corn.

Majority of the 6.61 million people in the region are corn eaters, with the total demand for 2009 at 296,128 tonnes. The per capita consumption is 44.8 kilogrammes of white corn.

With a three-tonne average yield from a little over 230,000 hectares, central Visayas could produce at least 690,000 tonnes yearly, which is more than twice the current corn consumption. The region could then ship their surplus to other regions in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Alcala said this could be achieved by providing farmers the right farm inputs such as high-yielding and pest-resistant white corn varieties, and adoption of modern technologies, combined with organic farming.

The DA along with the Institute of Plant Breeding had developed new seeds to produce more white corn, which are now available in the market by privately owned companies.