November 04, 2003

Philippines' Corn Production To Increase by 30% in Last Quarter
 

Corn production in the Philippines is expected to increase by 30.2% in the last quarter of the year, reversing a 5.4% drop in previous quarter and helping push overall output to 4.61 million metric tons (MT) for the whole year.

Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. said that corn production between July and September 2003 plunged by 4.9% to 1.44 million MT, largely due to Typhoon Harurot which pummeled key corn-producing areas in Luzon, off-season plantings in Cagayan Valley and early cropping in Mindanao yielded good harvest to compensate for the third quarter loss.

As a result, the country's corn output is expected to increase by almost 290,000 MT to 4.61 million MT this year, or 6.76% more than the 4.32 million MT registered in 2003.

"Corn farmers managed to recover because of timely government intervention, including the release by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration of calamity funds for seed procurement and loan restructuring by Quedancor for Cagayan Valley farmers who had previous production loan borrowings," Lorenzo said.

Despite mid-year typhoons which wiped out potential harvest of up to 300,000 MT in one cropping season in Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera, he said farmers' ability to immediately rise above the disaster brought positive results towards yearend.

"To a great extent, we attribute this year's higher corn production to the resilient farmers of Cagayan Valley who, after being hit by a series of typhoons, immediately replanted their damaged farms using available government inputs, thereby recovering their loss in the last quarter," the DA chief said.

He said good corn prices and favorable weather condition in the second semester also encouraged farmers to plant more areas, hence resulting in significant improvement in corn output.

Lorenzo noted that early cropping in South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Saranggani, and General Santos City also compensated for the crop losses caused by the tropical storm.

What also contributes to 2003's higher corn output is intensified seed dispersal program of the government, which allowed corn yield, notably white variety, to improve to 1.91 MT per hectare up last year's level of 1.82 MT.

"We are gaining headway in promoting hybrid and certified corn seed varieties because more farmers in northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen, Muslim Mindanao, Cagayan Valley, Zamboanga peninsula, Central Visayas and Cordillera are realizing the benefits of using them," Lorenzo said.