DAVAO DEL NORTE, May 25, 2023 – Twenty-five (25) disadvantaged farmers in the municipality of San Isidro under the San Roque Farmers Association (SRFA) received hybrid yellow corn seeds, fertilizers, and assorted vegetable seeds from the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Davao Region.

Based on the Regional Program and Management Support Office’s (RPMSO’s) beneficiary needs assessment ((BNA), the FA’s strengths lie in their years of experience in farming corn and cacao, and land areas ideal for cultivating both crops. Thus, the FA members were amenable to receiving agricultural inputs and additional training to sustain their crops better.

The production inputs are under the SAAD program’s integrated agri-livelihood projects, with 13 more municipalities in four (4) provinces set to receive the same and other production inputs within the year.

“Kami mapasalamaton sa mga grasya nga amoang nadawat. Kini dako nga hagit sa atong asosasyon. Kinasing-kasing namo ni nga palamboon” (We are grateful for the blessings we’ve received. This is a challenge for the association. We’ll take its production to heart), Ms. Meraya Torentira, chairperson for San Roque FA, said.

Prior to receiving the implements, the association went through a best practices management training for yellow hybrid corn, courtesy of the program in partnership with the Provincial Agriculturist Office (PAGRO) of Davao del Norte represented by Provincial SAAD Focal Person Benjamin Grasa, with the training facilitated by Provincial Corn Coordinator Omar Ayco. 

“Among hangyo karon, mapakita ninyo nga kining project nga gihatag, inyohang mapadaghan. Kaning corn, short-term lang, pati ning mga gulay,” Ms. Naomi Lamata, Alternate Assistant Regional Focal, encouraged the FA. “Mao ni atoang unang pag-ubanay. Manghinaot ko nga sa pila ka tuig, magmalamposon pa mo kay para mas mudaghan musulod nga ahensiya sa gobyerno.”

(What we request now is that you can make this project prosper. This corn is short-term, as well as the vegetables. This is our first foray together. I hope that in a few years, you’ll be successful so that more government agencies may come.)

Yellow Corn Seeds

San Roque Farmers Association, given 24 bags of hybrid yellow corn, 108 bags of complete fertilizer, 36 bags of urea, and 50 vegetable seed packets, will plant a part of the crop component in a communal area by the hillside. The remaining bags have been distributed individually to members for planting in their respective sloping areas.

The association is also set to receive various pesticides including herbicide, insecticide, and fungicide not later than the third quarter of the year under the same project.

In solidarity, San Isidro’s Municipal Agriculturist Office gave the farmers 50 packets of Bio N alongside the implements from SAAD. Bio N is a locally-developed microbial-based fertilizer intended to boost yield among several agricultural crops including corn.

With an expected planting area of 12 hectares, the association is set to harvest during the first to second weeks of September this year. In the meantime, yields from the vegetable seeds are expected in July to August.

SAAD Davao Region identified hybrid yellow corn as a viable intervention for its 2023 beneficiaries from farmers’ needs assessment. Whether in hillside, sloping, or plain planting areas, yellow corn is known to produce high yields with lesser labor needs when compared to other types of corn. ###

Writer: James Brian R. Flaga, DA-SAAD Davao Region Information Officer
Source: DA-SAAD Davao Region