DA promotes corn contour farming

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture is establishing new contour farming technology demonstration sites for corn in the Visayas and Mindanao.

The dissemination of the new contour farming technology will be carried out under the Sustainable Corn Production in Sloping Areas (SCOPSA) program and as part of the department’s soil erosion and climate change adaptation measures.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Edilberto de Luna said the techno demo sites would be established in Iloilo, Bukidon, Davao and Cotabato.

Contour farming is the practice of planting across a slope following contour lines, thus creating a water break which reduces the formation of gullies and rills caused by cascading water, which is a major cause soil erosion.

Under Philippine agricultural protocol, planting in areas above 18 percent slope is prohibited, but is still widely practiced in the uplands.

“It’s clear to us that they should not go and plant and cultivate in those areas, but we also have to consider that these people have to have a source of sustainable livelihood,” De Luna said.

The fair solution, according to De Luna, is the use of contour farming.

The DA has already established contour farming techno demo sites in the provinces of Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, and Cagayan in Region 2.

“The results are very encouraging and many farmers are expected to follow suit,” said De Luna.

The Philippines remains self-sufficient in corn supply with local feedmillers importing corn only when world market prices are cheaper.

Corn production grew  1.33 percent in the first quarter of the year with corn farmers producing a total of 2.3 million metric tons.

This was due to the expansion of harvest areas in ARMM, northern Mindanao, SOCCSKSARGEN and in the Davao region.