Corn sector lobbying for agency to regulate industry, aid farmers
A GROUP of corn farmers and industry stakeholders is urging the government to create a separate body mainly to promote the expansion of the corn industry.
Philippine Maize Federation, Inc. President Roger Navarro said that the group wants the creation of a Philippine Corn Development Authority, which will be the separate policy body for corn program.
“They will handle research, regulation, program intervention, corn commodity, exchange, farmers’ welfare, policies etc.” Mr. Navarro said in a text message on Monday.
He stressed that the creation of such an agency “will address the concerns of corn farmers particularly on the continuous surge of farmgate prices of corn,” read a separate statement released by the Department of Agriculture also on Monday.
Corn growers, according to Mr. Navarro, are also hopeful that, through a separate body, restrictions for corn in the world market will be slashed.
“I hope that we can export in the same way that we can import,” Mr. Navarro was quoted as saying, adding that one of the challenges of the corn industry is the competition from importation.
The National Food Authority is responsible in monitoring prices of corn and rice grains and regulating outward shipments of the said grains.
The government currently only allows importation of corn and corn substitutes, while restricting outward shipments of corn grains.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, corn accounts for 5% of total farm output by value, with production growing 10.61% year on year to 2.66 million MT in the third quarter. Output is expected to hit 7.26 million MT by year’s end, which is realized would represent a 3.39% decline from 2015 levels.
Corn output for the last quarter of this year is expected to increase by 2.44% year on year.
For the first three months of 2017, corn production, “based on farmers’ planting intentions,” may jump by 18.23% to 2.27 million MT from 1.92 million MT in the same period of 2016, the PSA said. —