CORN production in Central Visayas is expected to decrease by 10 to 20 percent at the close of the third quarter this year.
One reason for the decrease in production is typhoon Frank, which hit the country last June and damaged cornfields in northern Cebu.
A total of 5,000 hectares planted with corn in its reproductive and vegetative state was destroyed in Bantayan in Bantayan Island, San Remigio and Bogo, Cebu said Dr. Fabio Enriquez, regional corn coordinator of the Department of Agriculture-Central Visayas.
But the Department of Agriculture (DA) expects a recovery by the fourth quarter, said Enriquez during a news conference held at the DA 7 compound yesterday.
Aside from the damaged cornfields, the rise in the prices of fertilizers have also contributed to the reduced corn yield.
Enriquez explained that some farmers are no longer using fertilizers because of high prices.
Mindanao source
“Fertilizers could have helped increase the yield,” he said.
Corn sufficiency level in Central Visayas as of March 2008 was at 55 percent, which means that 45 percent of the region’s corn supply is being sourced from Mindanao.
Enriquez said some areas in the region can still be considered as “marginal,” where farmers only use their produce for their own consumption and not for enterprise.
With the decrease in production, an increase in the prices of corn can also be expected.
However, DA 7 coordinator Francisco Sapsap said it would be hard for the department to determine a price stability range for corn sold by traders in the wet market since the department considers the present state of the region as an “artificial situation.”
Prevailing wet market prices for white corn are now between P30 and P40 per kilo.
Double
Based on the DA 7’s last first semester meeting, farm gate prices pegged for white corn is P13 per kilo while yellow corn is at P10 per kilo.
Once the traders distribute the grains to consumers, the farm gate prices usually double since the traders will have to consider transportation and middle-men costs, said Enriquez.
In that same meeting, producers of yellow corn also requested the DA to set the yellow corn’s farm gate price similar to the
white variety. But the DA is yet to decide on this one.
The 2008 existing corn areas in the region have also increased to 246,832 hectares from 176,770 hectares in 2004.
Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor have contributed to this increase while it is only in the province of Bohol where land area dedicated for corn production has decreased after the province made a shift to rice production. (DME)
