MANILA: The Philippines may be able to soon export corn, the country’s second staple after rice, the Agriculture department said yesterday, expressing confidence that this year will see a surplus of the grain.
“For the first time in history, the Philippines is ready to export corn to neighboring countries in the region as corn harvests this year will breach the 5.6 million tons domestic requirement,” the department said in a press release.
Sought separately for clarification, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said in a telephone interview yesterday: “We’re expecting a huge surplus this year,” particularly in yellow corn — the type being considered for export.
The department said in its statement yesterday that corn production totaled some 7.5 million metric tons (MT) last year — of which the yellow variety accounted for 72% — up slightly from the 7.26 million MT projected in November and roughly flat from 2015’s 7.52 million MT.
About 70% of the country’s yellow corn production goes to feed mills, while the balance is used in production of food ingredients.
Roger V. Navarro, president of Philippine Maize Federation Inc. (PhilMaize), said his organization’s preliminary estimates show yellow corn output may have actually dropped 15% last year from 2015’s actual 5.38 million MT, even as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) had forecast in November a smaller 2.79% reduction to 5.23 million MT for this variety. The PSA is scheduled today to report fourth-quarter and full-year agriculture production data.
The PSA had said in its November report that it expected corn production to increase by about 18.23% to 2.27 million MT this quarter from the actual 1.92 million MT in 2015’s comparable three months.
Mr. Piñol yesterday cited a report of Assistant Secretary Federico E. Laciste, Jr., National Corn Program coordinator, showing that the department expects Philippine yellow and white corn harvest to total about 8.1 million MT this year.
Mr. Piñol said he will ask President Rodrigo R. Duterte at the Cabinet meeting on Monday “to direct the National Food Authority (NFA) to amend its rules prohibiting the export of corn until the country doubles its corn production…”
The statement also quoted Mr. Laciste as calling NFA’s export restriction “unfair” and “unjust” to farmers because the entry of foreign corn to the country had already been liberalized.
PhilMaize’s Mr. Navarro welcomed the plan to ease the export restriction, saying: “Dapat talaga ma-harmonize ‘yung policy natin sa (We should really harmonize our policies with the) AFTA (Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free Trade Agreement) and WTO (World Trade Organization)… so we can take advantage of the prices abroad.”
In a meeting yesterday at the Bureau of Plant Industry compound in Malate, Manila, top officials of the department identified as priorities in the National Corn Program the adoption of drip irrigation using solar-powered irrigation system and of hybrid corn seeds.
