THE local corn sector is looking at constructing four new corn postharvest facilities in the province of Isabela that would require investments of around P8 billion, an official of the Philippine Maize Federation (Philmaize) said.

“We are keen on establishing four more corn postharvest facilities that will help us solve the problem of storage and quality. We need these if we are to export corn in the future,” said Philmaize Federation president Roger Navarro in an interview.

Navarro noted that the postharvest facilities can process about 800,000 metric tons (MT) of corn kernels and store up to 240,000 MT.

“If you add the four new post-harvest facilities to the one and only existing postharvest facility in Isabela, the facilities can service one-third of the province’s harvest,” he said.

The four postharvest facilities will feature mechanical dryers, grain storage and silos. 

In February the national government forged an agreement with the provincial government of Isabela to attract Filipino and foreign firms to invest in post-harvest facilities.

As agreed upon, the departments of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, and the Environment and Natural Resources, and the provincial government of Isabela will facilitate the flow of investments by offering tax holidays, duty-free importation of postharvest equipment, and easing up on local regulations and taxes.

The only existing facility in Isabela is the P500-million corn processing and storage complex in Reina Mercedes town.

The facility is considered the biggest corn-processing plant in the country and in Southeast Asia, which is capable of processing 200,000 MT of corn and storing 60,000 MT of grains.

The province of Isabela is considered as one of the major producers of corn in the Philippines.

The expansion in areas planted to corn in Isabela has been cited as one of the possible reasons that will ensure the stability of the country’s corn output for 2011.

Philmaize projected that corn output will hit 6.8 million metric tons (MMT) this year. This, however, is lower than the 7.2 MMT projected by the government.

Earlier, Navarro cited the shift to other major crops such as sugar as one of the primary factors that will affect the performance of the sector this year.