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| Photos from Manny Piñol's Facebook page (ctto) |
Another absolute good news!
Department of Agriculture secretary Manny Piñol presented a
significant news that could be, according to him, considered as a birthday
present to President Rodrigo Duterte – the achievement of 103% sufficiency in
Yellow corn.
As a growing and improving country in terms of economy,
there should be more than enough supply to meet public demands.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the
country has achieved a 103 percent sufficiency for yellow corn in 2017, which
is considered as first in history.
The PSA also reported that Filipino farmers posted a gross
production of ‘5.811-million metric tons with a 1.07% post-harvest loss for a
net local production of 5.749-MMT.’
Here’s the full report posted by the Agriculture secretary
on his Facebook page:
PH POSTS 103% SUFFICIENCY
IN YELLOW CORN PRODUCTION
By Manny Piñol
In what could be considered as a symbolic birthday present
to President Rody Duterte, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has
reported that the country achieved a 103% sufficiency for yellow corn in 2017,
a historic first.
In the PSA's Yellow Corn-Feed Supply and Demand Estimates
covering the period January to December 2017, Filipino corn farmers posted a
gross production of 5.811-million metric tons with a 1.07% post-harvest loss
for a net local production of 5.749-MMT.
The local demand for the year was placed at 5.560-MMT for a
sufficiency level of 103%, according to the PSA reported which was validated by
PhilMech, the Livestock Development Council (LDC) and the PhilMaize Foundation.
This is the first time in the history of the corn industry
that Filipino farmers produced more yellow corn than the local demand with
prices at record high at P15 to P16 per kilo at farm gate.
Including White Corn which is staple food in many Mindanao
and Eastern Visayas Provinces, the total production for 2017 was 7,914,817
metric tons which was almost 700,000 metric tons higher than the 2016
production of 7,218,817 metric tons.
The area harvested also increased from 2,484,465 hectares in
2016 to 2,552,592 hectares in 2017 and the average yield per hectare increased
from 2.91-metric tons per hectare to 3.10 metric tons.
The 2017 production of 7.914 million metric tons and average
yield of 3.10 metric tons per hectare are the highest on record, according to
the PSA.
Additional PSA data on White and Yellow Corn production
showed the following:
- 2016 vs 2017: Production growth rate of 9.64% or an
increase of 696,092 metric tons;
- 2016 vs 2017: Area harvested growth rate of 2.74% or an
increase of 68,127 hectares;
- 2016 vs 2017: Average yield growth rate of 6.72% or an
increase of 0.20 metric tons/hectares.
The increased production in yellow corn could lead to a more
vibrant livestock industry and the white corn production could further
stabilize the country's staple food supply.
The country has traditionally imported corn from the United
States, Argentina and even Thailand as the Filipino farmers struggled with very
poor production.
With the introduction of quality corn seeds and the
availability of modern technology and easy access financing, the Filipino corn
farmers have been steadily increasing their production.
The very high farm gate prices for both Yellow and White
Corn this year could further boost the production for 2018.
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