Town eyes Guinness record for grilled corn

The Philippines is again aiming for another world record, this time for making the "longest grilled corn." Online newspaper MindaNews reported Friday that local executives of Banga town in South Cotabato wants to land in the Guinness Book of World Records with the feat. Mayor Isidro Janita said local folk will go for the record when they host the second National Corn Congress from March 1 to 3. The event coincides with the town's week-long celebration of its 66th foundation day. Janita said residents will simultaneously grill corn over a six-kilometer or 6,000-meter stretch of road, which would overshadow the previous national record of 300 meters in Upi town in Maguindanao. Janita said his town is the "Corn Capital of the Philippines," a title that has yet to be approved by Congress. Banga's average corn yield is 25,600 metric tons per cropping season, or a yearly harvest of 76,800 metric tons (MT). Records show that 61 percent of the town's 24,034 hectares is planted to corn, 28 percent to rice and 11 percent to high value crops such as asparagus and papaya. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and regional directors of the Department of Agriculture have been invited to attend the affair. Banga is a first-class town in South Cotabato, with a population of 69,131 people in 14,101 households. - GMANews.TV