PH inventory of corn down

The Philippines’ inventory of corn dropped by 19 percent over a monthlong period to 311,700 tons as of February as farmers were going through uncertainty about being able to plant the next crop in the absence of new government policies on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Authorities were able to issue a new joint department circular that replaced the Department of Agriculture’s Administrative Order No. 8 (AO8) issued in 2002, which the Supreme Court declared void last December.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, bulk of the country’s corn stock as of February were held in commercial warehouses, where the volume shrank by 18 percent month-on-month to 231,500 tons.

Most of the country’s corn output are intended for animal feed production. According to the DA, about 70 percent of locally produced corn for feeds were genetically modified.

In the Philippines, corn is the only GM crop that is so far allowed for commercial production. Filipino farmers grow two GM corn varieties—one that is resistant to the pest Asian corn borer and another that is tolerant of herbicides.

Before the new GM policy was issued, the Philippine Maize Federation Inc. (PhilMaize) has been urging the government to immediately resolve the rules governing the country’s use and propagation of GMOs in local farms as they prepare for the April and May cropping season.

The group claims to be the country’s biggest organization of corn farmers, with 350,000 members across the country.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Philmaize said around 70 percent of the Philippines’ corn output—pegged at 7.5 million tons in 2015—was genetically modified.

“Corn is the second most important crop in the Philippines and we were close to achieving the 8-million-ton output level, which will pave the way to exports of our local produce,” Philmaize member  Butch Umengan said in a statement. “But this did not materialize because of the El Niño and now, because of the Supreme Court decision, we cannot use the GM seeds that actually increased our harvests.”