After halting for three years due to the pandemic, the Department of Agriculture-Caraga conducted the 4th Regional Corn Congress anew, converging corn industry players and other stakeholders on August 24-25, 2023 in Cagwait, Surigao del Sur.

The two-day activity specifically intended to gather and consolidate all corn industry key players to discuss current issues and challenges, strategies for sustainable corn production, shared best practices, technology promotion, and market potential for corn.

Corn, cassava, soybean, and sorghum are DA’s priority commodities under the Corn Program, which are considered one of the staple foods for humans, feeds, and industrial uses as well.

DA aims to improve the lives of the farmers through various interventions. During the gathering, it introduced feed formulation using locally available raw materials to the participants to lower the use of commercial feeds, thereby increasing the income of the farmers. Moreover, the use of Bio-N Fertilizer was reintroduced to save on input cost and attain optimum crop yield.

Regional Executive Director Engr. Ricardo M. Oñate Jr. said that the DA has always been looking after the development of every stakeholder which includes the small farmers.

“While we are helping our stakeholders to flourish in the agricultural field, we make sure not to put at stake the chance to prosper and improve the lives of small farmers. So, when we encourage them to plant corn, we do not just help them in the production, but also in the marketing aspect,” he said.

Provincial Agriculturist Marcos M. Quico of Surigao del Sur encouraged the participants to continue boosting corn production, including other grains, to achieve food and feed sufficiency and enhance the competitiveness of the domestic livestock and poultry sector. Corn is one of the important components of livestock feed formulation,

“If we fail to produce corn, we fail to produce livestock and poultry animals,” Quico said. 

Meanwhile, Nicamel Bajao, Chairperson of Maningalao-Lingayao Agricultural Cooperative (MALICO) stressed the significance of participating in the said event.

“As a corn farmer, I never miss an event such as Corn Congress because this is an important gathering where we become updated on the new technologies and effective strategies to ensure quality and high production,” Bajao explained.

Based on data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2022, Caraga Region produced 109,512 metric tons (MT) of corn, which is 64% yellow corn, and 36% white corn. In the first semester of 2023, it recorded 22,222 MT.

For 2023, DA-Caraga targets to produce 126,486 MT of corn; 45,507 MT of white corn and 80, 979 of yellow corn. It aimed at increasing farmers’ income from P17,956 per hectare to P21,726 per hectare for white corn, and P19,720 per hectare to P26,425 per hectare for yellow corn.

DA continuously capacitates and strengthens the farmers and enhances their knowledge through seminars and training to help them become resilient to the challenges in their field.

This year’s theme of the Regional Corn Congress was dubbed “MAISaganang Agrikultura, Maunlad na Ekonomiya”. (Lovely Joy L. Saludez/DA-Caraga)