DA promotes white corn as rice alternate, healthy staple food

By: Rizalie A. Calibo & Renan Ansing

SIQUIJOR, June 28 (PIA)---The Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Unit 7 (DA-7) promotes the consumption of white corn as healthy staple food and the best alternate for rice in the country.

It is noted that white corn is the staple food of about 20 percent of Filipinos, especially in Visayas and Mindanao.

DA-7 regional corn program coordinator, Francisco Sopsop said the region has very good performance in corn production especially on white corn.

During the consultative meeting with local government units in the region, Sopsop noted thatCentral Visayas ranked 10 in the country in all types of corn production; number 4 in the production of white corn and ranked 16 in yellow corn production.

This data showed that Central Visayas has great potentials for mass production of corn, he said.

Sopsop said DA is presently working on the promotion of white corn as rice alternate. "It has better health benefits than rice, the traditional staple of our people in the region," he added.

He further noted that the government is bent on expanding the production of low-glycemic white corn seeds to reduce the incidence o f diabetes and boost national food security.

DA and the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB-IPB) has signed an agreement to implement the program, Sopsop reported.

In the same briefing, Dr. Artemio Salazar, UPLB-IPB deputy director and National Corn RDE ( Research, Development and Extension) Network head said they are aiming to bring technologies to the boondocks where many of the people do not have much to eat.

Salazar explained that unlike rice, white corn has low glycemic index (GI), which makes it slower to digest, thereby releasing glucose gradually into the bloodstream, and   lessening the risk of diabetes.

White corn, he said, has also more protein, more lysine and tryptophan, more dietary fiber, more minerals and more antioxidants than rice. 

The government hopes to educate urban consumers on the health benefits and food preparations of white corn.

"Hopefully, as white corn becomes part of the Filipino diet, the country may reduce dependence on rice and improve food sufficiency," Salazar concluded. (PIA-Siquijor/mbcn/RAC & DA-Renan Ansing)