Corn

The government is keen on increasing corn production for 2012 in order to ease the rice demand, according to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s 55-page budget message to Congress.

THE country’s palay and corn production in 2010 slightly dropped from their respective levels from the previous year as a prolonged dry spell brought by the El Niño phenomenon took its toll on staple crops, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Friday.

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna , Philippines  – Genetically modified (GM) corn production in the Philippines has become a multi-billion-peso venture.

CORN and wheat are set for the biggest monthly gain after the US economy returned to growth, boosting optimism about demand for grains as rain delays harvests in the United States.

The newspapers report the vast devastation in our agricultural sector wrought by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. Rice fields have been inundated, rice warehouses in the North flooded. Thousands upon thousands of sacks of rice were rendered inutile, unfit for human consumption, and there are talks that we may need to embark on hefty importations again…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture has given in to the demand of corn farmers to adhere to a P13 per kilogram buying price for corn following a three- hour heated discussion with members of the Philippine Maize Federation (PhilMaize) last Friday at the DA head office in Quezon City.

TUGUEGARAO CITY: The National Food Authority (NFA) Cagayan has announced the implementation of a two-tier pricing scheme for corn farmers in the province. Provincial Manager Armando Rey Villacorta said the two-level buying prices for clean and dry yellow corn grain took effect on September 14, 2009. The prices have been set at P12.30 per kilogram…

Farmers and traders are venting their ire on Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap after the collapse of the local corn market. From a high of P26 a kilo in January this year, corn prices have fallen below P9 in early September, discouraging farmers from planting the crop and leaving traders helpless after building up their stock.

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – Paying heed to the complaints of farmers in Cagayan Valley about the low buying price of corn, the national government has increased its buying price and the volume to be bought from every farmer.

THE Philippines, Southeast Asia’s second-biggest corn producer, will double planned state purchases of the grain to 600,000 metric tons this year to help support local prices and protect farmers’ incomes, an official said yesterday.

The government plans to export corn at a loss to prevent domestic prices from falling further, an official of the National Food Authority said yesterday.

The Department of Agriculture on Thursday ordered the National Food Authority (NFA) to triple corn procurement as part of the government’s strategy to counter the effects of the looming price crash of the grain and to support Filipino farmers.

MANILA, Philippines – Local corn farmers are blaming the government for “bad policy governance” that has caused domestic and international prices of Philippine-grown corn to drop.

MANILA, Philippines – Corn farmers welcomed yesterday the increase in the crop’s support price to P13 per kilo as they said this will encourage them to increase production and allow the sector to attain its production target for the whole year, following a two-percent decline in the first quarter.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang has approved a P13 per kilo support price for yellow corn then ordered the National Food Authority (NFA) to purchase 300,000 metric tons of corn this main harvest season to encourage corn farmers to increase their production.

MANILA, Philippines – A congresswoman from Mindanao, which supplies more than 40 percent of the country’s corn requirements, is proposing an increase in the government’s buying price for corn from P7 to P13 per kilo.

LEGAZPI CITY: The corn industry in the country is on the verge of demise. This gloomy scenario will trigger soaring prices of poultry, meat products and other prime commodities in the country if the government will not take action immediately, said engineer Roger Navarro, the president of PhilMaize Federation Inc.

MANILA, Philippines – Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Talino-Mendoza warned the nation yesterday of a corn shortage unless it boosts production and research on the second staple food of a large number of Filipinos.

Corn growers said the country can attain self-sufficiency in corn this year if the government provides policy support to encourage local corn farmers to continue increasing their productivity.