June 28, 2007

 

Philippines San Miguel keen on US$551 million corn investment
 

 

The Philippines' San Miguel Corp. could invest up to 5 billion pesos (US$551 million) in the corn sector by establishing at least 10 grain centres in the country, a senior agriculture official said Thursday (Jun 28).

 

"The company has expressed high interest in establishing grain centres in 10 different sites," said Dennis Araullo, the agriculture department's programme director for corn.

 

Company president Ramon Ang met Wednesday with Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to finalise the plan, Araullo said.

 

A grain centre with shellers, dryers and storage facilities, would cost about 500 million pesos each, Araullo said.

 

The country's largest food and beverage conglomerate, San Miguel also has a feed and poultry division.

 

The agriculture department will be providing support to corn farmers in selected sites to ensure a steady supply of corn for the grain centres.

 

Specifically, the department will be providing high-yield hybrid seeds for farmers as well as technical support for the grain centres, he said.

 

Locations being considered by San Miguel include the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Saraggani, Pangasinan, North Cotabato and Maguidanao among others, Araullo added.

 

For this year, the department has set a production target of 6.9 million tonnes, up 13 percent from last year's output.

 

Corn is a major component in livestock and poultry feed.