The corn conundrum

There are two main types of corn produced in the country. The white corn variety is mainly produced for human consumption. It is served as the staple food, instead of rice, in some regions in the country, particularly in the Visayas and some areas in Mindanao populated by migrants of Visayan origin. The other is the yellow corn variety that is cultivated primarily for use as animal feed.

The importance of yellow corn has grown primarily because of increasing demand by the hog and poultry industries. Increasing incomes encourage consumers to shift their demand preference from other protein sources to meat products. This is true in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world when ordinary consumers experience rising incomes.