Corn farmers seek government help

CEBU, Philippines —  The Philippine Maize Federation Inc. (PMFI) is calling the government to attend to the sector’s plea to help farmers increase corn production in the country. 

PMFI president Roger V. Navarro hopes that the proposed Philippine Corn Development Authority will soon be created, as this would restore aid to the “orphaned” sector since the ratification of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

According to Navarro, the corn sector used to have at least a P1.6 billion budget from the Department of Agriculture (DA). However, the budget, which was mainly through the DA-attached National Food Administration’s (NFA), has been eliminated with the passage of RTL. The abolition of the functions of NFA consequently abolished government’s buying program of farmers’ corn harvest.

“The budget for corn before was only P60 million. Then the budget increased to P1.6 billion. But the industry is worth P100 billion. There is a very big gap. Then the RTL was passed, the RTL even became rice-centric,” Navarro said

Unfortunately, while the Department of Public Works and Highways has a huge budget of P700 billion for infrastructure, its projects do not really involve post-harvest facilities for the corn industry.

  The same absence of post-harvest facilities compels government to have a program for buying corn. This program for buying all farmers’ harvest for the first cropping is already a practice in Thailand.

  “In Thailand, the government sequesters all corn production, and so you will see warehouses saying ‘Property of the Government of Thailand,” Navarro said.

  A corn agency is also important since the Philippines needs to attend to many needs in order to be self-reliant. For one, there is hardly a local corn seed growing industry as many seed growers are multinational companies, Navarro said.

 Also, farmers find it difficult to supply the needed fertilizers for their crops since fertilizers’ cost is very high. Navarro cited that government-owned fertilizer companies including the Philippine Phosphate and Atlas Fertilizer are no longer operating.

He bared that the cost of fertilizers urea, potash, and Triple 14 is now very expensive at around P2,000 per bag. Thus farmers find them prohibitive to use.

There are many issues confronting the corn industry which should be addressed by a higher authority such as a corn development agency, he said.

 For one, the local corn sector cannot grow to its maximum capacity as it is only allowed to import.  But it is not allowed to export and take advantage of seasonal high price of corn in the world market.

“Corn was the first commodity to be liberalized under the WTO (World Trade Organization). But it was only importation that was liberalized for corn and corn substitutes.  The government has never really agreed to allowing us to export. (Even worse), they have plans to make corn to have zero tariff,” he said.

A serious concern for the corn sector is post-harvest facilities which the Philippines lack.

 “There are two croppings for corn. The first cropping has the biggest production of 65 percent for the (crop year)). That is from August September October. But since it is rainy, and we don’t have the post-harvest facilities, there is so much loss. The February to March harvest is just fine because it can be dried on the highway. But we need to save the first season harvest,” said Navarro.

“The feed industry is a P510-billion industry. Assuming two-thirds (67 percent) of feeds go to livestock and poultry, that represents P340 billion,” he said adding that assistance in post-harvest facilities is what will significantly improve farmers’ lives.

Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) monetary board member Bruce Tolentino said Filipinos pay higher in consuming meat products like chicken and pork due expensive tariff cost of feeds imposed by the Philippines.

Tolentino proposed that reforms should in tariff policies should be introduced in order for Filipinos to enjoy cheaper meat products, which prices are jacked up by expensive import tariff fees for animal feeds.

Tolentino cited that the higher cost of meat products in the Philippines is “self-inflected.”