Philippine corn output this year is likely to hit a record of 5.48 million tonnes, thanks to good weather, use of higher yielding seeds and marketing help extended by government to farmers, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Artemio Salazar, head of the corn research and development arm of the Department of Agriculture, said the government also expected harvests of the grain next year to be at the same level as this year's or higher by 5.0 percent.

The country produced 4.62 million tonnes in 2003.

"Higher corn harvests this year and next year would mean lower imports of corn and its substitute - feed wheat," Salazar told Reuters by phone.

Salazar estimated local corn demand this year and next year at an annual 5.7 million-6.0 million tonnes.

Philippine imports of feed wheat are expected to fall to around 570,000 tonnes this year from 1.15 million tonnes in 2003, according to data compiled by a local feedmilling source familiar with the country's imports.

The Southeast Asian country is also not expected to buy more corn in addition to the 10,000 tonnes it purchased earlier this year, the same source said.

The Philippines bought 48,000 tonnes of corn for the whole of 2003.

EL NINO

"I don't expect the El Nino weather pattern to significantly affect corn production next year," Salazar said, adding local meteorologists were expecting a mild El Nino.

"Even at reduced levels, the projected amount of rainfall will be enough to sustain the crop," he added.

Meteorologists said they expected the El Nino weather pattern, which is associated with drought in Southeast Asia, to affect the Philippines late this year up to June next year.

In July, the government said it expected the country's harvest corn area to increase to 2.5 million hectares from 2.4 million last year.

Average yield per hectare was also estimated to rise to 2.2 tonnes per ha this year from 1.92 hectares last year, largely due to the distribution of hybrid corn by the government at subsidised prices.

About 28 percent of the country's total corn area use higher yielding seeds. Areas planted with such seeds yield an average of 4.5 tonnes to 5.0 tonnes per hectare compared with 1.9 tonnes per hectare for traditional varieties, the government has said.

Aside from the use of hybrid corn, the growing of the genetically modified BT corn also boosted production.

Agriculture department officials said the area using the
insect-resistant BT corn variety could double this year to 30,000 hectares this year from 15,000 last year. Bt corn was commercially planted for the first time in 2003.