Islands of modern agriculture

There are those who look at things the way they are, and

ask why... I dream of things that never were,

and ask why not?

– Robert Kennedy

Over the weekend I had the good fortune of being introduced by Erlene Manohar (PCA regional manager) to two agribusiness entrepreneurs in Alaminos, Laguna who are producing corn silage for export to Korea as well as for several dairy farms in Batangas and Laguna. They also mill corn for animal feed production. The two entrepreneurs are Virgilio Monzones and Arcadio Gapangada Jr., who are Chairman of the Board and CEO, respectively of BENACORN Corporation.

Gapangada used to be a board member of Laguna but apparently has heeded the admonition of Irish satirist Jonathan Swift. He has quit politics and had become a useful member of society by becoming a full-time farmer.

They have no corn farms of their own but outsource corn from small growers in Laguna, Batangas, and Quezon, almost all of whom are at the same time coconut farmers. In order to assure themselves of a steady supply of raw materials, the corporation encourages the 1,500 small farmers who grow corn for them to mechanize, use hybrid corn seeds, and apply chemical and organic fertilizers generously.

Their business is most timely because the coconut farmers in CALABARZON are still reeling from the twin disasters which recently struck the region — the cocolisap insect outbreak and typhoon Glenda. With hardly any income to expect from coconut the next few years, the income from corn silage and/or grain corn is a most welcome salvation.

In a previous column I cited the four major planks for the modernization of the coconut industry, namely 1) raising productivity of the coconut tree by fertilization and replanting with hybrids, 2) intensive, sustainable multiple canopy intercropping with high value annual crops and tree crops, 3) maximum utilization of all parts of the coconut by creating village level processing depots, and 4) downstream integration with oleochemicals but focused on a few strategic nutrition and personal and home care industry applications.

This coconut cum intensive hybrid corn production system is an excellent example of Plank No. 2. The coconut trees benefit from the cultivation and weeding as well as from the fertilizers applied on the high-value intercrops. The increased productivity of the coconut is in fact an incremental benefit with zero cost!

Equally significantly is the breakthrough impact of corn silage feed to the productivity of the dairy farms in Laguna, Quezon and Batangas. Corn silage significantly improves milk yield but for now in very limited supply and therefore quite expensive. Coconut-Hybrid Corn-Dairy

Farms Messrs. Monzones and Gapangada are building a new, bigger animal feed manufacturing plant in Alaminos in a joint venture with a Korean partner and using proprietary Korean technology. The 1,500 hectares of cooperators corn farms they now have are nowhere near their plant requirements and they are anxious to expand the “islands of modern agriculture” in the impoverished coconut growing communities in CALABARZON which they have started to build.

But in order for the hybrid corn interplanted with coconut to be more productive and to reduce costs, the farms need to be mechanized. Manual harvesting of corn for silage is laborious and time consuming. Mechanical forage harvesters and choppers will bring down the costs. The unproductive coconut groves need to be cleared of unwanted fences, unwanted trees and boulders. They need to be contoured to minimize soil erosion, canals dug to improve drainage and farm roads built to connect the farms to the nearest barangay/municipal roads. For these operations they need custom service providers with bulldozers, graders and backhoes.

This is how the corporate banana and pineapple farms in Mindanao are re- configured to attain world class productivity. The initial land development costs are high but amortized conservatively over 10 years, per cropping cost per hectare is very affordable.

At least 50–100 hectares of intensive coconut/hybrid corn farms need to be clustered together to create enough market for an enterprising farmer to buy/lease a 60–90 horsepower tractor to provide customized land preparation services to his neighbors. Government and the private sector need to figure out a way to economically but sustainably finance small coconut farms consolidation while respecting the titles of the coconut farmers.

Incidentally, this is one way WE CAN BUILD BETTER IN THE VISAYAS AFTER YOLANDA. Also this is the kind of forward-looking investments which merit funding from the Coconut Levy Fund (CLF and the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF).

*** Dr. Emil Q. Javier is a Member of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and also Chair of the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines ( CAMP). For any feedback, email eqjavier@yahoo.com.