Central Visayas pushes to produce more corn

CEBU, Philippines - Despite being the lowest producer of corn in the entire country, the Department of Agriculture-Central Visayas is pushing for enhanced corn production in the region as part of the government’s post-Yolanda rehabilitation effort.

“In the entire Philippines, Cebu has lowest corn yield because of the type of soil that we have. But we insist on planting because we are corn eating people,” DA-Central Visayas Assistant Regional Director for Operations Marina Hermoso said.

The DA regional official stressed that corn industry is one of the severely affected agricultural product when super typhoon Yolanda struck Eastern Visayas and Northern Cebu.

Around 70 percent of corn fields were damaged by the strongest typhoon in history contributing to about P1.4 billion in total crop damage in the province, worsening Cebu’s rank as the lowest corn-producing province in the country with an average yield of below one ton prior to the typhoon.

Included in the state agriculture agency’s P115.387 million rehabilitation budget is the P28-million allocation for corn seed distribution.

Around 8,000 bags of high-breed corn seeds are intended for 14,000 to 16,000 Yolanda affected farmers in northern Cebu.

Hermoso said 500 bags have initially been distributed, each bag containing 18 to 20 kilos of seeds.

A total of six tractors have already been deployed to northern Cebu, four in Camotes Island (Pilar, San Francisco, Tudela, and Poro) and the remaining rotating in affected towns in northern mainland Cebu.

Two of the tractor were borrowed from Cotabato, which capacity is at 90 horse power and can cover 200 hectares per unit and costs P2.2 million per unit.

Eight additional tractors will be delivered in June, Hermoso added.

Hermoso also advised farmers in the region to start maximizing the weather condition and plant agricultural products before July since an advice from PAGASA states that rain will not be as frequent beyond that month as the El Niño is expected by June.

“Ang uwan, kutob ra sa July. So makatanom pa ta karon. We at DA are campaigning for water conservation especially with the coming dry spell,” the regional agriculture official said. —/ATO (FREEMAN)