Cotabato Yellow Corn Price Drops From P25 To P10/Kilo

Two days ago, I met some farmer leaders in Arakan town who shared with me their heartaches over the unjustified drop of Yellow Corn Buying Price from a high of P25 per kilo before the harvest season to only P10 now.
“Wala na gusto magtanom mais,” Arakan business leader Melchor Anarna told me.
This age-old problem could be addressed actually but it has to be done by the Local Government Unit, the case of North Cotabato, the Provincial Government.
When I was Chairman of the. Mindanao Development Authority, I designed a program to address this unjust Corn Price manipulation victimizing poor corn farmers.
(This was supposed to have been implemented in one of the towns of Bukidnon but the LGU chief executive backed out of the program and lost in the next elections.)
Through the Economic Enterprise Projects, the LGU could establish the Corn Grains Silo Storage (COGSS) Program which would allow corn farmers to deposit their produce in Grains Silos during peak harvest season when the price is low and sell during off-harvest when the prices go up.
The farmer will get an “advance payment” for his corn equivalent to the prevailing market and he will be given a “Quedan” paper showing the volume of corn he has deposited.
Say, if the prevailing market price is P10 per kilo and he deposits 20-metric tons, he will be given an “advance payment” of P200,000.
After the harvest season, when the price of corn goes up to P20 per kilo, the farmer could surrender his “Quedan” paper to get an additional income of P200,000.
The LGU Economic Enterprise Office, on the other hand, could generate income by drying and storage fees estimated at P2-per kilo which means that the farmer gets an additional net income P160,000.
Here are the expected benefits from this program:
1. Farmers will be protected from price manipulations during peak harvest season thus ensuring a better income;
2. Farmers, assured of a good price and protection, would be encouraged to plant more which would mean greater productivity;
3. With greater corn production, the country will be less dependent on importation thus saving on dollar reserves and creating more local economic activities;
4. Feed millers and livestock and poultry growers who need corn for their feed production will be spared from the problem of fluctuating prices;
5. Assured with a steady supply of corn even during off-harvest season at predictable prices, feed millers could stabilize the selling prices of their produce and in the process protect local livestock and poultry growers from the violent ups and downs of the price of feeds;
6. Stable pricing of feeds will allow livestock and poultry to bring down their production costs. It will make them competitive and encourage greater productivity;
7. LGUs which will establish and operate the Corn Grains Silo Storage System through the Economic Enterprise Office could generate revenues which could be used for other agriculture projects.
A vibrant corn, feed milling and livestock and poultry industry means more jobs and more economic activities to reduce poverty, increase productivity, promote peace and trigger Mindanao’s economic recovery.
This is actually a very doable program but Local Government Executives need to be imaginative and think beyond just the giving out of dole-outs and packs of rice to be able to alleviate the conditions of their farmers.
Since I already have the Blue Print of this program, all that this needs to be implemented would be the support of the Provincial Legislative Council.
With God’s grace, we could do this as early as the 2026 Corn Season.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!