For the first time in Philippine agriculture history, the country would be able to export its corn products after breaching its minimum production requirement.
No less than Agriculture secretary Manny Piñol revealed in his official Facebook account the development during his recent meeting with National Corn Program coordinator and the department’s Asst. Secretary Federico Laciste.
Piñol said yellow and white corn harvest for 2017 is expected to hit 8.1-million metric tons, making the country 120% sufficient in corn.
“Irrigating corn fields, which is already being done in parts of Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley and Ilocos Region has proven to tremendously boost production per hectare which now has a national average of 4.7-metric tons per harvest,” said Piñol.
The production of Cassava, which is lumped with corn in the animal feeds category, is seen to reach 570,000 metric tons and this will contribute further in stabilising the corn and animal feeds supply in the Philippines.
This despite the series of natural calamities which hit the country recently, including the 7-month El Niño.
“Corn production is expected to be boosted further with the approval and adoption yesterday of the Solar-Powered Irrigation System based on the technical validation and recommendation of the Dept. of Agriculture’s Central Agriculture and Fisheries Engineering Division (CAFED),” added Piñol.
Meantime Piñol disclosed his plan of officially asking President Duterte to order the National Food Authority (NFA), which is currently under the Office of the President, to amend the guideline which prohibits the export of corn unless the country achieves a 200% sufficiency.
Piñol said he will open up the issue during their upcoming Cabinet meeting set this Monday. (DP)