December 5, 2006
Philippine poultry raisers urge government to plant more corn in 2007
Philippine poultry growers are urging the government to find ways to expand corn hectares for next year as a possible measure to avoid the price of the produce from increasing as corn supply in the global market continues to tighten.
According to Business Mirror daily, big poultry growers admitted they see the high price of corn as one of their biggest headaches for next year. For this year, the highest price recorded for the produce is P13 (US$0.26) per kilogramme.
Gregorio San Diego, president of the United Broiler Raisers Association said the group worries about a possible corn cost hike as world prices are also high.
San Diego noted that the tightening of supply in the world market for corn is due to the increasing use of corn by major producing countries, such as Brazil percent 2c+corn) , for producing biofuel.
San Diego said planting more corn is the only solution to the impending problem, adding that land areas planted to corn are already shrinking.
William Lim, business unit manager of Universal Robina Corporation's Poultry Bio-GM division, said that aside from increasing urbanization, most big agribusiness companies are not too keen on going into large-scale corn planting due to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law.
Lim questions the government's mandate of disallowing of ownership of more than five hectares that bars conglomerates in going into massive corn production..
Earlier, the Department of Agriculture said the government could not yet make a projection that the country could be self-sufficient in corn in 2007 due to the threat posed by the mild El Niño or the long drought which is expected to last until June of next year.
Corn is crucial for the poultry and livestock sector as it is the main ingredient used to produce feeds given to hogs and chicken. An increase in corn prices would automatically mean a rise in production cost for hog and poultry raisers.
