December 27, 2012

 

 

As high grains prices in both local and international markets encourage farmers to plant more crops, the Philippine's corn sector is expected to post record-high production this year.

 

In an interview, the Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Proceso Alcala said that corn production will exceed this year's target of 7.8 million tonnes as bumper harvest were recorded in major corn producing provinces that were unaffected by Typhoon Pablo.

 

"We can expect record harvest for corn, particularly in Cagayan and Isabela, as farmers were encouraged to cultivate more crops because of good prices," Alcala said.

 

The Agriculture chief also said that they are now conducting massive intervention efforts to help typhoon-stricken corn areas in Mindanao, noting that the damage caused by Pablo to the industry will not affect production output for this year.

 

The corn sector earlier reported more than 112,859 tonnes of the grains were destroyed at a cost of PHP1.635 billion (US$40 million). The typhoon hit 41,942 hectares, of which 39,250 hectares could no longer be rehabilitated.

 

"The corn production losses are estimated to cause a 5.6% reduction to the two million tonnes forecast for the first quarter next year," Alcala said. Meanwhile, he said that they are now conducting cloud seeding in Cagayan and Isabela to mitigate the effects of prolonged drought in the regions.

 

With regard to corn export, Alcala said that the National Food Authority Council will continue to deliberate on the capability of the corn industry to export the grain considering that current production levels match the feed requirements of livestock growers and farmers enjoy good buying prices.

 

Alcala said that the corn farmers currently enjoy good buying prices at PHP14 (US$0.34) per kilogramme against the current PHP18 (US$0.44) per kilogramme in the world market.

 

The DA-National Corn Programme has a production target of 7.8 million tonnes for 2012 and is targeting to attain corn sufficiency by next year. This year's projection by the National Corn Programme is slightly higher than the projection made by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) of 7.46 million tonnes, higher by 7% than last year's output of 6.97 million tonnes.

 

During the first nine months of the year, corn production grew 7.49% on-year to 5.90 million tonnes from the previous 5.48 million tonnes. The gross value of production rose to PHP3.92 billion (US$95 million) from PHP3.65 billion (US$89 million) the previous year.

 

Based on the 2011-17 Corn Industry Development Roadmap, the government intends to increase corn production from 6.97 million tonnes in 2011 to 10.82 million tonnes in 2017 and to increase the annual income of farmers by 10% per hectare.

 

For 2012, the government expects to attain a sufficiency level of 98% with a deficit of 179,000 tonnes. This is because small volume of corn requirements for animal feeds is still imported by livestock growers.

 

For 2013, the government intends to raise corn yield to 8.4 million tonnes with a sufficiency level of 101% with a surplus of 149,000 tonnes. To do this, the government should encourage domestic consumption of ingredients for animal feeds.

 

The government is currently conducting intervention strategies such as the provision of production support services, irrigation development, post-harvest development services, marketing development services, as well as education and training for farmers. A budget of PHP950 million (US$23 million) has been allocated for the National Corn Programme this year.