Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s vision of making Cebu corn sufficient is slowly taking shape.
Four corn-drying facilities in Medellin, northern Cebu will be put up soon by the Cebu Provincial Government to help small-scale sugarcane farmers transition into planting hybrid yellow corn.
Each of these four post-harvest facilities are capable of drying 15 metric tons of corn kernel every ten hours — or 30 metric tons per 24-hour operation cycle.
All in all, the four dryers will have a combined corn drying capacity of 120 metric tons per day. This was what transpired during the meeting between Gov. Gwen Garcia and Hubert Go, vice president for marketing of H and E Enterprises, Inc., on Tuesday, May 2, at the Capitol. According to their website, Go’s company is a supplier of post-harvest machinery and equipment.
“We want to be able to assure farmers that there would be available space for them to dry their harvest,” Gov. Garcia said during the meeting.
The drying facilities will meet the stringent requirements of large institutional buyers of corn in the province which set the corn moisture content at only 14 percent.
Provincial agriculturist Dr. Roldan Saragena, who was also present, said the corn dryers will be put up in Brgy. Caputatan Sur as this is easily accessible to five neighboring LGUs of Bogo City, San Remigio, Daanbantayan, Tabuelan, and Tabogon whose vast expanse of farmlands are expected to shift into hybrid yellow corn production.
He said there are 695 hectares of initial farmland in northern Cebu that the Capitol is convincing to shift into yellow corn production.
He added that farmers could harvest 8 metric tons of corn per hectare. In September last year, Gov. Garcia led the ceremonial planting of hybrid yellow corn in a 50-hectare model farm in Brgy. Caputatan Sur as farmers in northern Cebu began abandoning sugarcane farming.
Dr. Saragena said this is because the processing mill in Medellin has increasingly become inefficient, and small-scale farmers are forced to bring their harvest to Negros Occidental for processing.
To further entice farmers to try hybrid yellow corn production and in keeping with her vision to make Cebu corn sufficient, the governor has pushed for the development of these vast tracks of land-to-corn production through the Enhanced Countryside Development (ECD) program.
The ECD facilitated in getting funds from financial institutions with very low interest rates as starting capital for these farmers.
Dr. Saragena said that as of the moment, the ECD program has facilitated the granting of loans to farmers tilling 123 hectares of farmland.
They have committed to shift to planting hybrid yellow corn.
The provincial agriculturist said they are also negotiating with over 20 large institutional buyers such as feed mills and food processing companies to be the direct buyers of corn to be produced by the farmers in northern Cebu.
“Through ani nga facility, maka-assure ta nga limpyo na atong mais, dili na ibuwad sa kalsada, dili masagolan og bato,” Dr. Saragena told Sugbo News.
In order to avoid overwhelming the drying facilities, moreover, the governor said she will ask farmers to plant in a “staggered” manner or to schedule their planting so that they will not harvest all at the same time.
During the same meeting, Gov. Garcia also asked Verna Pagonzaga, Mandaue City branch supervisor of Ford Tractor Philippines, for a quotation on corn harvester machines capable of mechanically separating corn kernel from the cob, making for faster and more efficient harvesting methods. The Capitol also plans to purchase some to complement its post-harvest facilities. | Ioannes P. Arong
