Yellow corn crop to fall short this year

THE Philippine Maize Federation, Inc. (PhilMaize) said self-sufficiency in yellow corn may not be possible this year, in the wake of the most severe El Niño in decades.

“Surely there will be realignment of targets as some corn producing regions were affected by climate change and that their crops were damaged,” said PhilMaize President Roger V. Navarro in a text message.

Asked on the new outlook for yellow corn, used as animal feed, in which the Philippines was self-sufficient in 2015, Mr. Navarro said that the numbers are still being reviewed but added that “we will see more decrease in production from these regions and sufficiency might not be achieved.”

Earlier, Mr. Navarro said that the country should target 7.8 million metric tons (MT) overall, up 3.7% than the actual 2015 output. This breaks down to 2.3 million MT for white corn, and 5.5 million MT for yellow corn.

In 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority said corn output was 7.52 million MT, down 3.24%. Yellow corn accounted for 5.38 million MT, for a 106% level of sufficiency.

Around 90% of yellow corn produced last year was of the Bacillus thuringiensis or BT variety, according to Mr. Navarro. In the first half of the year, corn production hit 2.83 million MT, down 16.35%.

The drop was attributed to the reduction in area harvested and lower yields because of the dry spell in the Regions of Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao, SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City), and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. —