"Farmers are likely to plant wider corn areas in anticipation of firmer prices and good weather early next year," Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. said.
Lorenzo said that with the rising world price of corn and other corn substitutes, local corn farmers are experiencing better farm prices, making planting attractive.
Based on planting intentions recorded last October, corn output will likely rise six percent to 1.44 million metric tons in the 2004 first quarter from last year’s 1.35 million MT due to increased production in key growing areas in Mindanao and Cagayan Valley, Lorenzo said, citing data furnished by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.
BAS said the output increase will be triggered by the intensive implementation of the government’s corn program. This should yield a four-percent expansion of production area to 624,000 hectares in the 2004 first quarter from its previous level of 600,000.
But with farm gate prices remaining firm in recent months – hitting a high of P8 per kilogram for yellow corn in mid October and hovering at P7.10 per kilo as of Dec. 19, from an average of P6.47 last year, more farmers now want to cultivate the crop, Lorenzo said.
He pointed out that government interventions like promoting among farmers the wider use of hybrid and open pollinated corn varieties and the application of integrated pest management to reduce crop losses from pest and diseases, will also translate into bigger harvest in the first three months next year.
"What we’re saying is that the six-percent growth forecast made by BAS for the next quarter is the lower end of the estimate. It can really be higher," Lorenzo said.
To cope with rising demand for corn from the livestock and feed milling sector, the government is even encouraging corn farmers to immediately replant their field after harvest under a quick turnaround (QTA) scheme successfully applied in rice production.
"Through the QTA, we hope to increase corn hectarage by 50,000 hectares for the first quarter from the original expansion target of 24,000 has, thereby allowing us to have a corn production area of about 650,000 has instead of 624,000," Lorenzo said.
The expanded planted area will provide higher yield that should help reduce the country’s dependence on imported corn, he added.
The country produces about 4.5 million tons of corn each year but needs about 5.5 million MT of the staple for its rising human and animal population. To meet the shortfall, it resorts to importation, buying as much as one million tons of the commodity annually.