DA projects 11% hike in corn output

MANILA, Philippines –  The Department of Agriculture projects an 11-percent increase in corn production this year to seven million metric tons (MMT) due to good weather.

According to DA Assistant Secretary and concurrent national rice and corn program director Dennis B. Araullo, “we may be able to produce seven MMT of corn this year. We’ve reached that level in 2009 and almost did so in 2008. We can achieve the same (production level) this year since the weather is good.”

Based on the survey of standing crops as well as the planting intentions of corn farmers for April to June, Araullo calculates that corn production for the first semester of the year will reach 3.3 MMT.

The projected corn output for January to June this year is 36.34 percent higher than the 2.41 MMT produced in the same period last year.

In January, corn farmers belonging to the Philippine Maize Federation (Philmaize) had said that output may reach 7.4 MMT on the back of good weather and good prices.

According to Araullo, yellow corn is currently pegged at P13 per kilogram.

Corn farmers are benefiting from the moderate La Niña episode which is bringing rains to farmlands in most major corn growing areas in the country.

Production of white and yellow corn declined by almost 10 percent to 6.37 MMT in 2010.

The decline was caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon in the first half of last year.

The dry spell caused farmers to delay their planting and consequently delayed the harvest of their corn crops.

Aside from the dry spell, the sector was also hit by typhoons which damaged P367.96 million worth of corn grains.