DA chief: Using corn to produce bioethanol helps Cagayan Valley farmers

CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela — A Department of Agriculture proposal to harness excess yellow corn would benefit Cagayan Valley farms, which are some of the country’s primary corn growers, said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. in a speech read for him during the 19th Regional Corn Congress held at the Capital Arena on Sept. 22.

In 2025, the total corn production in Cagayan Valley (Region II) was estimated at 1,952,849 metric tons, which was slightly lower than the 1,956,156 metric tons grown in 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. 

Thr varieties of Cagayan Valley corn provide for both dining table meals and food stock for domestic animal farms that take care of cattle or chicken. 

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Laurel, in his speech delivered by DA Cagayan Valley Director Rose Mary Aquino, did not say how much Cagayan Valley corn should be apportioned as feedstock for mixing and processing bioethanol that could augment fuel supply given the unstable pump prices because of ongoing wars affecting oil suppliers. 

The secretary said corn feedstock would supplement molasses and sugarcane juice from the sugar industry that are used to generate bioethanol. This form of biofuel is distilled alcohol produced from fermented sugar cane or corn starch which is mixed with conventional fuel. 

Laurel said his agency is determining how to make a corn feedstock market profitable for farms and still be affordable for commercial use. 

Local ethanol production is estimated at 325 million to 385 million liters a year using sugarcane derived feedstock, DA records show. Bioethanol plants have a capacity exceeding 500 million liters, it said.

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Noting the presence of a billion-peso corn feedmill in Ilagan, Laurel said the region’s corn resources could make Philippine bioethanol competitive with imported fuel additives and extend the country’s fuel supply until the world oil supply market stabilizes. 

Laurel said government seeks to expand domestic ethanol production from 10-percent to 15-percent as the government starts to reduce its dependence on imported gas. 

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At the same time, a new downstream market for corn would increase farm revenues, he said. 

Corn production in Cagayan Valley could be improved and expanded through better seeds, mechanization, and contract farming between producers and ethanol plants, the secretary said. INQ