For the first time this Yuletide season, many families adorned their homes with Christmas decors made of a "unique" material.

Appearing exotic, the decors are actually made of cornhusk (balat ng mais), hitherto considered as agricultural waste.

Thanks to the creativity and pioneering spirit of inventive Filipinos, cornhusk has become an input in the local handicraft industry.

Aside form Christmas and home decors, cornhusk is now used as a material in making corn mache, artificial flowers, angels, dolls, apparel, bags, slippers, twines, wedding giveaways, and placemats.

Did you know, for instance, that a Filipino gown entered in the International Competition of Young Fashion Designers held in Paris, France on Dec. 15, 2005 had corn husk as one of its materials?

Created by Emi Alexander Englis of General Santos City (South Cotabato), the gown earlier won in the 2005 Philippine National Fashion Design Competition. It was made of, among other materials, five sacks of cornhusk, woven cotton, and abaca fabric.

Much of the credit for the metamorphosis of the once lowly farm waste into an industry resource goes to the Corn Husk Association of the Philippines Inc. (CHAP).

Organized in General Santos City on Feb. 17, 2003, the CHAP was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a non-stock, non-profit association in June 2004.

Rue Rivera-Ramas, CHAP founding president, said their group aims to augment the livelihood of marginal farm folk using corn husk, tassel, corn silk, stalks, and roots.

Ramas, who had worked with seed corn research companies for 14 years, noted that corn husk is used worldwide for crafts-dolls and flowers in South America, bags in China, dolls in Slovakia, gift items in Indonesia, bags in Africa, and slippers in Japan.

The Philippine Technology Resource Center introduced the craft in the early 1980s but only hobbyists gave some time to it.

Ramas, a foreign affairs degree holder from the University of the Philippines (UP), began researching and experimenting on cornhusk crafts in January 2003.

With the help of the General Santos City agriculture office, she embarked on training women with the support of Dr. Art Salazar, then the corn program director of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The women initially trained were from Sarangani, Koronadal City, and the South Cotabato towns of Polomolok, Tupi and Banga.

In 2004, the DA supported the training of 11,500 barangay folk in Region 12 (Central Mindanao) in basic cornhusk craft.

In August 2004, the first inter-municipal competitions was sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred Philippines Inc., whose mother company, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., is the world's largest producer and distributor of high-quality hybrid corn.

Subsequently, Pioneer Hi-Bred International (a DuPont company) gave a grant of $8,000 (about P400, 000) in support of the cornhusk training of farmers in Regions 1 (Ilocos), 2 (Cagayan Valley), and 10 (Northern Mindanao).

The first and second cornhusk trade fair and competitions were held in General Santos City in February 2002 and January 2006, respectively, with 18 towns and four cities in the South participating.

On Jan. 25, 2006, a Cornhusk Business Center was set up in General Santos City with the support of the DA corn program. A Corn Husk Training Center was also put up in Bauang, La Union.

More recently, last Nov. 15-16, the MAISaganang Pasko was held in Urdaneta City (Pangasinan) under the joint sponsorship of the DA, CHAP Luzon chapter, Pioneer Hi-Bred Philippines, Department of Trade and Industry, Urdaneta City government, and ABS-CBN Bayan Foundation.

Today, CHAP's 32 chapters nationwide conduct training and join local and foreign exhibits. The association has a pool of accredited trainers who were themselves beneficiaries of short-term training courses.

"Now they serve any part of the country on call," Ramas said.

Summing up, Ramas said the cornhusk industry is strong in corn-producing areas such as Regions 10, 11, and 12.

"In 2007, we will have a more stable export market. Targets in 2007 are a satellite cornhusk business center for Luzon based in Pangasinan, and business outlets in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, " she said.