With 500K MT surplus, farmers expect to reach corn self-sufficiency this year

Corn farmers expect a production surplus of around 500,000 metric tons (MT) for the first two quarters of 2012. Given this situation, the Philippine Maize Federation (PhilMaize) announced over the weekend that the Philippines will be self-sufficient in corn this year. "In a recent meeting, Mindanao farmers said they will have a surplus of 300,000 MT while  Region II farmers said that their harvest will be more than enough," said federation president Roger Navarro. The group expects that the projected surplus will be enough to convince the government to allow the farmers to export corn to the world market. Navarro added that National Food Authority administrator Angelito Banayo wrote the group a letter two weeks ago, saying that it could only export rice and corn as based on the provisions cited in Presidential Decree (PD) No. 4. "A technical working group has been formed by the NFA council. So we are hoping that it will act favorably on our request," said Navarro. The group says that the government is being prohibitive in allowing the export of corndespite the liberalization of the corn trade in the Philippines years ago. Corn farmers earlier announced their intention to export as much as 400,000 MT of yellow corn to take advantage of high world prices resulting from the worst drought to hit the United States in more than 50 years. The NFA, however, said that under PD no. 4, corn farmers cannot export unless its council certifies that there is a surplus. Harvest of corn is already ongoing and will conclude by October. Planting for the next season will begin in November or December. A study released by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) showed that corn "self-sufficiency" was already at 99.06 percent as of 2011. PhilMaize noted the minimal importation of yellow corn in 2011 due to the country’s near-self-sufficiency status. — BM, GMA News