City Agriculturist Edgardo Haspe said that the city's plans to increase food production warrant ample assistance to all farmers. The thriving corn market, which is currently attracting farmers to plant a cash crop due to its high market price, is given particular attention by the city government.
He said his office has already set training programs and other assistance for the city’s corn farmers.
“We will reduce our dependence on external supply once we have expanded rice and corn production in Davao City … One of our assistance programs comes in the form of training. We have the profiles of our farmers then we will train them in corn-farming technology,” he said n a report from the City Information Office (CIO).
Aside from the existing pool of corn farmers, the City Agriculturist Office is currently expecting an increase in the number of corn farmers and cornfield areas in the city. The previous damage caused by the fusarium wilt disease on the city’s banana plantation areas encouraged more farmers to resort to corn farming.
“This disease was very far-reaching; not only crops in the city were hit, but also other Davao Regions. We have areas that were really hit by the fusarium wilt disease. This is a banana disease that renders the soil unsuitable for bananas. So what farmers can do since they can no longer plant bananas, they can convert their farm lands into cash crops,” he said.
The land is still suitable for cash crops such as corn even after infection from the fusarium wilt disease. However, converting the banana plantations into cornfields can be particularly tricky and will require extensive assistance from the government.
“The fusarium wilt is not dangerous to corn crops so they can really grow that … Although most of our farmers, especially among the experienced ones, they already know how to farm corn, though we need to improve some areas. Of course, preparing the land since there are a lot of banana stumps, there must be preparations before corn can be planted,” Haspe further said.
The city has distributed Trichogramma insects to corn farmers. Trichogramma is a species of insect that is often released in farm fields to control the number of other parasitic bugs such as corn borers.
The Department of Agriculture cultivates the Trichogramma in BioCon Laboratories all over the country to be distributed to farmers. The insects are then released to corn farms to regulate the number of parasites without resorting to the use of pesticides that contain dangerous chemicals.
"One of our subsidy programs comes in the form of training. We have profiles of our farmers then we will train them on corn farming technologies. That's one thing because we have a BioCon laboratory that can help in fighting corn borer. We have been giving out Trichogramma to our corn farmers to help them control corn borers,” Haspe said.
The city has over 5, 534 corn farmers and this number is expected to rise in the coming months.
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