Corn Board rallies support for Grains Highway Program

National Corn Competitiveness Board (Corn Board) chairman Doris Magsaysay-Ho has rallied livestock and corn industry leaders to support the Grains Highway Program, the strategy touted to make Philippine corn and livestock sectors globally competitive.

Magsaysay-Ho has earlier presented the Grains Highway Program to Trade Secretary Cesar Purisima. The program aims to create the needed economies of scale to lower production costs; improve post-harvest facilities to reduce losses; supply the domestic demand for quality corn; support the ambitious growth goals of the livestock and provide a wealth creation model for farmers.

Magsaysay-Ho reiterated the need and urgency of import substitution through increased corn productivity amidst the growing domestic usage of corn feeds by the livestock sector. She said that the production of corn growing areas come mainly from Mindanao with 66 percent; Luzon with 28 percent and the balance from the Visayas.

Magsaysay-Ho said that at present, corn is loaded mostly in bags making the transport and handling costs very stiff. Under the grains highway program, bulk handling, similar to the system used in US farms, will utilize containers of 19 to 29 tons each thereby reducing transport and handling costs, Ho added.

Magsaysay-Ho also said production of pork has been growing at 4.18 percent; broiler at 4.86 percent while corn is at a measly 1.26 percent.

The corn board is urging the adoption of farm clustering with sizes ranging from 50 hectares to 150 hectares so that clusters can avail of shared meat production, processing, refrigeration, packaging and logistics facilities.

The private sector-led Corn Board was formed in 2002 by Undersecretary Theresa Cruz-Capellan of the Million Jobs Office. It has been holding consultations and dialogues with the various stakeholders–from producers to corn users–to raise corn productivity and enhance a sustainable growth course for the corn and livestock sectors through what it now calls a "seed to shelf" program.

Meanwhile, Capellan said that while the Philippines has been growing corn for several decades, its production could hardly catch up with the requirements of livestock growers such that yellow corn production for 2001 reached only 4.5 million metric tons as against actual demand of 5.5 million metric tons in 2001. The deficit of one million metric tons was addressed by importation.

Capellan said farm productivity improvements through the use of hybrid technology and other market interventions (such as getting into bulk handling), will not just propel the Philippine corn and livestock sectors to global competitiveness but addresses a more important concern of creating jobs and enhancing the rural economy.