(EID-038) “PRODUCING FOOD AND ENERGY”

Fidel Castro was the first world leader to warn that the demand for bio-fuels will have dangerous effects on the availability of land intended for agricultural production. Looking at the situation in the United States right now, it appears that Castro was correct in his warning, because the prices of beef, corn and bread have already gone up.

The increase in prices is a result of a chain reaction. Beef prices went up because the cost of corn went up, corn being a part of cattle diet. Corn prices went up because its demand went up, because it is now used to produce bio-fuels. Bread prices went up, because the demand for wheat went up, after wheat fields were converted to corn.

Right now, Jathropa appears to be the most popular crop of choice for conversion into bio-fuel, but there is a possibility that corn could quickly become the other choice, based on the trend now in the USA. If and when this happens, the warning of Castro could become relevant in the local setting.

Proponents of Jathropa argue that producing this crop would not threaten the availability of land intended for agricultural production, citing the reason that this crop would only use what are now considered as idle lands. That might be a fair assumption, but in the absence of clear cut policy controls, free for all situations could happen, in much the same way that rice lands were eaten up by housing development with no controls in place.

Looking at the practical side, corn appears to be the crop with the most market potential right now, because it is not just in demand for bio-fuels, it is also needed for human food and animal feeds. This being the case, the government should come up with policy guidelines in order to take advantage of this triple opportunity.

I think that for as long as policy guidelines and controls are properly in place, it would be wise to prioritize the production of corn in this country, intended for both food and energy. By comparison, rice is hardly an exportable product for us now, given the fact that we are still importing it.

On the other hand, corn offers us the potential of having a crop that would not only meet our internal demand for food and energy, but we might also possibly export it. Add to that the possibility that we could also be exporting meat and poultry, on the assumption that we could be producing our own animal feeds from locally grown corn.