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January – March 2005 BIO LIFE
33
Farmers shifting to new corn technologies
Typical Bt corn harvest.
From page 19
the corn fields. He likened the corn borer to
a “natural calamity” or typhoons.
Jay Narciso of Arayat, Pampanga, considers
himself adventurous and decisive.
Narciso has spent almost half of his life
working abroad. He has worked in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, on the staff of the Saudi Arabian
Interior Minister. After seven years,
he moved to Switzerland and stayed in Europe
for six years, after which he decided
to return to his native Pampanga.
Being a son of farmers, Narciso decided
to invest his earnings in corn farming. He
started purchasing two tractors and ventured
into modern farming practices, initially by
planting conventional hybrid seeds.
“With these regular hybrids, I would yield
an average of seven tons/hectare, which
to regular standards is above average,”
Narciso said.
Eventually, he decided to upgrade into
Bt corn and planted five hectares of
YieldGard 818. With the new technology, his
yield increased from 9mt/hectare to 10mt/
hectare, which improved his income by about
30 percent.
Farming is not new to another former
overseas Filipino worker, Jesus Gavino, 52,
from the hometown of President Arroyo in
Santiago, Lubao, Pampanga. In his youth,
he used to help his father in the farm during
summer.
Gavino spent 16 years as a heavy-lift
driver in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Then, he
decided to come home and venture into
farming. Initially, with conventional hybrids,
he would average 5mt/hectare. Switching to
YieldGard 818 gave him a yield record from
9mt/hectare to 10mt/ hectare.
These farmers agreed that using modern
technologies in corn farming, current
farm yield and income levels could still be
improved.
In South Cotabato, Lanao del Sur and
Isabela, a revolutionary backyard-farming
venture has been changing the lives of
farmers and farming communities since
they ventured into Bt corn and hybrid corn
farming.
Farmers who used to get about an average
of 6.5mt to 7mt of corn from a one-hectare
farm may now be able to harvest 10
metric tons or even more.
Such is the case of Carmelito “Lito” G.
Dinopol, from barangay Topland, Koronadal,
South Cotabato, who has been planting conventional
hybrid corn for the last two years,
starting only with 5 hectares.
Mang Lito used to apply insecticides to protect
his fields from insect pests. But unfortunately,
during the rainy season, the sprayed
chemicals are washed off easily, thus, significantly
decreasing yield, he observed.
From a field tour of a Bt corn demonstration
farm, Mang Lito was able to see for himself
the added value of having corn plants with
built-in protection against corn borer. Trying
the new technology has improved his yield
and, having been encouraged by the good
market price of corn, he is now helping fellow
farmers in his community avail themselves of
the Bt corn technology.
From Wao, Lanao del Sur, Francisco
Piagola used to plant his four-hectare
farm with open-pollinated corn
varieties that yielded only 1.5mt/hectare.
A simple switch to corn hybrids
in the ‘90s dramatically increased his
yield to 4mt/hectare to 6mt/hectare.
As he adopts the latest corn hybrid
introduced in the market, such as the
NK hybrid of Syngenta, his yield level
reached 8mt/hectare to 9mt/hectare.
The prospect of good farm income
enticed Manong Francisco to quit his
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job to become a fulltime
corn farmer, thereby nurturing the
farm with good farm management
practices.
“I was able to send my children to
school and acquired several pieces of
property,” he added.
In Reina Mercedes, Isabela, in
Northern Luzon, Peviano Soriano, a
former seaman who shifted his career
to farming, likes to try and compare
new kinds of corn hybrids (like those
produced by Cargil Asian, Pioneer,
Cornworld, Syngenta) in his farm. With fertilizer
application, the corn hybrids yield from
6 metric tons/hectare to 8.5 metric tons/hectare.
The experience has been helping
Soriano select which variety is most suited
to his farm.
These farmers believe that with the help
of modern corn farming technologies, such
as improved seeds or planting materials,
fertilization and other recommended cultural
practices, yields of crops, such as corn, can
be tremendously improved.
They all received plaques of appreciation
from the Department of Agriculture and
CropLife Philippines Inc. for successfully
using modern farming technologies that contribute
to the attainment of the objectives of
the National Corn Program.
El Bill R. Madrigal/ SEARCA-BIC (Originally
printed in TODAY, Earth and Science Page,
August 31, 2004)