Philippines expects bumper corn harvest in 2014

The Philippine government expects corn production to hit a new record level in 2014, after rising more than a tenth this year. The Agriculture Department said corn harvests are expected to surpass the corn self-sufficiency level next year as the agency focused on corn as a primary crop. The national corn production is forecast to reach at least 8.4 million tonnes, up 2.4 percent against 2013. The agency earlier said in spite of the damage wreaked by recent typhoons, the country had enough corn supply this year with harvest probably reaching 8.2 million tonnes, a 10.8-percent growth over last year’s output. It included nearly 5.73 million tonnes of yellow corn and 2.49 million tonnes of white corn. “Because of the continuing increase in livestock production, there is a need to sustain the main ingredient for feeds which is corn,” said Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala. He said the Philippines has a competitive edge in corn production over neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, which are highly dependent on imports from the United States. “Thanks to progressive cultivation methods, the country can produce corn all year round which is a definite advantage over other ASEAN countries,” Alcala added.-VNA