DA turns over P2.4-M tractor to corn farmers

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TIGAON, CAMARINES SUR -- The Department of Agriculture in Bicol turned over a P2.4 million 4-Wheel Drive tractor to a cooperative of corn farmers in Partido Area. Financed by the Agri-Pinoy Corn Program, the tractor was acquired by the KASARO coop upon their request and through the endorsement of former Cong. Noli Fuentebella. A counterparting scheme was adopted where the DA provided 85% of the total cost of the machinery which is P2,040,000.00 while the coop shouldered 15% of total cost amounting to P360,000.00.

The KASARO coop is an emerging coop in Tigaon financing 680 hectares of corn farms in Tigaon, Ocampo and other areas in Cam. Sur. It has 280 members engaged mainly in corn production and hog fattening. Their office is strategically located beside the Grains Center where they deliver their produce. OIC municipal agriculturist Lea Beltran of Tigaon said they are one of the organizations benefitting from the grains center facilities since its establishment in March 2013.

Juanito Royo, the coop chairman, said that since the coop is still in its infant stage, it has not yet acquired a steady income. With the acquisition of the 4WD tractor, they expect to generate huge income which will be distributed to the members as dividends. The turn over ceremony was held during the first mobile meeting of the Municipal Agriculturists of towns belonging to the Cam. Sur Provincial Corn Cluster, held at the Post Harvest Processing and Trading Center (PHPTC) (Grain Center) in Caraycayon, Tigaon on January 28.

Former Mun. Agriculturist and now Mun. Councilor and agriculture committee chair Jose Fomalejo who represented Mayor Arnulf Bryan Fuentebella said that the 5 hectare area where the Grains Center is located will soon become the agribusiness center of Tigaon with the construction of the DA-DAR-DENR convergence project - circumferential road traversing the corn areas. Also to rise in same site is the P20 M farm-to-market road scheduled for implementation by DA this year; and a rice processing center. Tigaon is a first class municipality of Cam. Sur with 3,042 hectares effective area devoted to corn production.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Lomerio, chief of the Operations Division of DA and Corn Program regional coordinator, said that for 2013 the corn industry in Bicol attained an increase of 11.96% in production performance as compared with the 2012 production. Out of the 258,115 MT regional production for 2013, Camarines Sur contributed 40%. The region’s average yield in corn is 2.36 MT/ ha. Camarines Sur recorded an average yield of 3.70MT/ ha.

Lomerio also underscored the major issues faced by the 38 corn farm clusters in the region which include: low productivity caused by low utilization of high quality seeds and fertilizer; most farmers still use traditional varieties, low adoption of cost reducing technologies -- IPM/biological control of pests and use of Bio-N, organic fertilizer; and high postharvest losses (12.75%).

To address these problems the DA ties up with NFA in the white corn procurement plan where the DA will provide free OPV corn seeds to farmers to cover 1,000 hectares for the April and May planting, while the NFA will buy all the farmers’ produce to process them into corn grits which will be mixed with rice. Lomerio also added that PCIC has allocated P900,000 for the crops insurance of corn farmers in Bicol and urged farmers to avail of this intervention. - Lovella P. Guarin DA RAFID5