Gov’t studying use of corn as bioethanol feedstock

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) is weighing a proposal to allow corn as feedstock for bioethanol, a move seen to lower fuel prices and provide farmers with an alternative income source during lean seasons.

The PCAF said the National Sectoral Committees on Corn and on Livestock and Poultry had recently met to discuss amendments to a joint order allowing corn as one of the approved feedstocks for bioethanol production.

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Agriculture Assistant Secretary U-Nichols Manalo said, “We all know we are facing a fuel crisis, which is why we are again discussing the biofuel program.”

“We are holding this consultation to gather your inputs and address your anxieties because, then again, the elephant in the room is the food-versus-fuel debate,” he added.

A study from the University of the Philippines Los Baños proposed the use of excess yellow corn in ethanol production, particularly during the wet season, when drying facilities are limited and farm-gate prices decrease.

The Department of Energy noted that raising blend levels, such as E20 (20 percent bioethanol and 80 percent gasoline), could reduce pump prices by about P5 per liter compared with the current E10 blend.

However, some industry groups, including the United Broiler Raisers Association, cautioned that diverting local corn to fuel production could force meat producers to depend more on imported feed ingredients.

Groups also said the hog industry is still recovering from African swine fever (ASF). The Philippines recorded its first ASF outbreak in 2019.

Representatives from the livestock and poultry sectors said domestic output meets only 62.7 percent of its yellow corn requirements, with the crop comprising roughly half of animal feed formulations.

The Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc. expressed its openness to incorporating Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), a nutrient-dense byproduct of corn ethanol production, into animal feed mixes to help offset supply pressures.

Livestock groups claimed that DDGS would not fully compensate for a reduction in the direct corn supply.

The proposal is subject to approval by the National Biofuels Board, a government body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the country’s biofuel program. INQ