December 13, 2006

Philippines plans to increased local feed grain production

The Philippines department of agriculture's plans to boost local production of feed grains, including maize.

Agriculture secretary Arthur Yap said that the government would continue to expand and consolidate farms into clusters for hybrid corn, cassava and other feed crops. The aim is to create sustainable crop enterprises which can eventually be integrated with feed milling and livestock industries, he said.

The Philippines is still a long way from being self-sufficient in corn production. Last year, it imported 930,000 tonnes of yellow corn and substitutes such as feed wheat in order to meet increasing demand.

Local output is rising, however. In 2006 the country is expected to post a record maize harvest of at least 6 million tonnes, up by 13.2 percent from last year's production.