Quezon farmer finds new sweet corn profitable
CARMELO PRADO, 49, of Sariaya, Quezon is one fellow who is in love with sweet corn although at first try, he suffered big losses. He lost a lot of money when his plants were overtaken by the rains in a previous year. He planted then two varieties which he would rather not disclose.
He recovered his confidence in sweet corn after planting a new variety that is claimed to be suitable for planting all-year-round because it is resistant to diseases that are prevalent during the rainy months. This is the Sweet Fortune variety that was introduced by Ramgo International a couple of years ago.
Last May 25, a field day was held at the farm of Carmelo in Brgy. Montecillo in Sariaya where a beautiful stand of Sweet Fortune was witnessed by more than 200 visitors from various parts of Southern Luzon.
Carmelo was so upbeat in telling about his good fortune in planting Sweet Fortune. Last February (2018), he planted on half a hectare three kilos of Sweet Fortune seeds worth R5,550. Seventy five days after planting, he harvested his crop.
From the three kilos of seeds, he harvested 12,130 Class A ears which he sold for R9 apiece for a total of R109,170; 3,000 Class B ears which he sold for R7 apiece for R21,000; and 1,950 Class C ears which he sold for R5 each for R9,750. That’s a total of R139,920. Oh yes, the hybrid produced a high percentage of high class ears.
And how much did he spend to produce his Sweet Fortune? He spent only R21,000, so he made a profit of R118,920 in a growing period of 75 days. The cost consisted of the seeds, land preparation, fertilizer, crop protection inputs, irrigation, and labor.
Even before harvesting his first crop in 2018, he had already scheduled the planting of 12 kilos of seeds because of his very good experience with the new variety. On April 16, he planted five kilos on one hectare. This was followed ten days later by five kilos on another one hectare. The third planting of two kilos was on May 6.
And for the rainy months of June to December, Prado has already ordered 36 kilos of seeds. He is very confident that he
will succeed, considering the good qualities of the new hybrid. And he is not worried about marketing because he has reliable buyers. Besides, the Southern Luzon Trading Post is right in his hometown where he could dispose off his harvests.
Meanwhile, at the field day on May 25, the attendees also witnessed the fruitfulness of the Magnum, a variety of “panigang” hot pepper. It is a prolific variety that can be grown year-round.
Other varieties included the Jacobina tomato, Jen Jen cucumber, Mt. Data Radish, Obama sitao, Red Dragon onion, Violeta waxy corn and others.— ZAC B. SARIAN