Occidental Mindoro farmers expect better income from corn

Occidental Mindoro thrives on two major crops: rice and corn. In MIMAROPA, Occidental Mindoro supplies most of the region’s yellow corn, with 76,934 metric tons in 2014. However, 80 percent of smallhold corn farmers suffer from low income due to decreasing production of only five tons per hectare.

One prevailing issue causing such concern, as shown in the results of the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) conducted, was that farmers did not follow the proper amount of fertilizers applied in the field.

Project leader and proponent Elenita Marasigan of the DA-MIMAROPA research division, said most farmers do not have enough capital to supply proper fertilization for yellow corn production.

“Farmers need to understand the effect of best management practices when it comes to corn production. This is why we introduced, through the Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) the Site Specific Nutrient Management (SSNM) technology that could help corn farmers in Sablayan particularly, to increase their production and income,” Marasigan said.

SSNM is an approach that promotes the timely application of fertilizers at optimal rates to fill the deficit between the nutrient needs of a high-yielding crop and the nutrient supply from naturally occurring indigenous resources that includes soil, crop residues, manures and irrigation water.

The technology was first introduced in the country through collaborative projects of the International Plant Nutrition Institute and the Bureau of Agricultural Research.

With the success of the SSNM technology in maize production across the country, Marasigan and her project team did not hesitate to introduce it to the farmers of Sablayan.

During the inception meeting, Marasigan said the farmers were enthusiastic to adopt the technology through CPAR.

To determine the proper fertilizer requirement for both soil and crop, a soil sampling was conducted prior to planting of corn.

The farmers were also trained on proper planting rates and distance to achieve ideal results. A rate of one seed per hill with a distance of 70 centimeters between furrows and 20 cms between hills were carried out.

Using the published ‘Quick Guide for Yellow Corn,” CPAR farmer cooperators made use of the fertilizer application based on the SSNM rates.

Bio-N was applied at the rate of six packs per hectare, coated to corn seeds before planting while 10 bags of organic fertilizers were plowed prior to furrowing.

Inorganic fertilizers were also applied following the SSNM rates indicated in the Quick Guide.

Basal application was done with 30 percent Nitrogen, 100 percent Phosphorus, and 100 percent Potassium. The succeeding applications were done according to the determined SSNM rates.

Based on the results of the SSNM trials in the project sites in Sablayan, a fertilizer requirement of 140-40-40 entails nine bags of inorganic fertilizers, 10 bags of organic fertilizers, and six packs of Bio-N.

As of project visit, positive results were already evident by the look of the corn crops in all of the farmers’ fields. One of the farmer-cooperators proudly showed his crops which are set to be harvested in June.