Agri-10 eyes to augment quality corn prod’n; increase farmers’ productivity, income via interventions

 

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Aimed at reaching out to more corn farmers in availing assistance from the agency, the Department of Agriculture – Northern Mindanao (DA-10) through its Corn program took part in an episode of the DA and Radyo Pilipinas’ collaborative radio program dubbed as “Usapang Agrikultura”, earlier today, November 26, baring its various interventions to radio listeners and webisode viewers.

According to Corn program focal person and Senior Agriculturist Richan D. Lacanaria, the said Program is tailored to augment the quality and quantity production of corn in Region 10, with focus in ensuring farmers’ increased productivity and profitability, as means of feeds supply in support to the livestock industry and as a source of alternative staple food crop and other value-added products.

In pursuit of such goals, the corn coordinator emphasized for farmers to enroll in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), enabling the government through the DA to identify those involved in the corn industry, and for the agency to extend them with the appropriate aid.

These range from production support services, extension support, education and training services, research and development, and agricultural machinery, equipment and facilities support services, infrastructure and irrigation network services.

Under the Production Enhancement project, Lacanaria said that the agency grants seeds (at 9 kilograms per bag) and complete fertilizers (at 50 kg per bag) to each yellow and white corn producer, especially amid the rising cost of inputs.

Given the limited funds, however, he highlighted that the priority beneficiaries for these provisions are those individual farmers whose landholding are from 0.5 to 1 hectare, adding that it only augments the input production requirement of corn farmers.

On recommending cost-effective and sustainable corn practices and technologies, the DA official added that the Program in collaboration with the local agriculture offices and model corn farms, employs the conduct of demonstration sites.

These feature packages of technology to scale up farmers’ knowledge and skills for eventual adoption in their respective corn areas, thereby maximizing yield and income, he added.

To attain economies of scale, he also urged corn farmers to form into clusters, as it is pivotal in accessing big-ticket projects from the DA such as farm tractors and corn harvesters and in achieving higher efficiencies in operations, further stressing in forging market linkages with institutional buyers.

Tying up with big feedmillers and processors, the corn focal person noted, will empower corn clusters to command premium prices for their harvests.

Overall, the interventions are geared toward contributing to the National Corn program’s directive of reaching an average grain yield of 5 to 6 metric tons, of which Northern Mindanao now stands at 4.86 metric tons/hectare (mt/ha) for yellow corn and 2.72 mt/ha for white corn.

Capping off the discussions, Lacanaria enjoined corn farmers to coordinate with their assigned agriculture offices should they take interest in benefitting from the roster of interventions mentioned, reiterating that Letters of Intent should be endorsed by their respective local government units subject for validation.

To date, there are 178,176 registered corn farmers in the RSBSA and per 2023 PSA data, Region 10 is the second highest corn producing region with a combined production of about 1.52 million metric tons.# (JLO)