Philippine corn growers to employ modern farming methods

Equipped with modern farming techniques from a government training programme, farmers in the province of Davao Oriental, Phillippines are stepping up the production of corn and other crops in a concerted effort to fight poverty.

Marginal lands in Cateel and Tarragona, Davao Oriental now under development are expected to yield enough harvest of corn with the help of modern farming methods.

A total of 100 corn farmers attended the launching of the Farmer Scientist Training Programme (FSTP) late last month in the towns of Cateel and Tarragonna.

The programme was implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA), University of the Philippines - Los Baños (UPLB), the Davao Oriental local government unit (LGU), Provincial Science and Technology Centre of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), and other concerned agencies.

FSTP is an agriculture-based strategy to improve the knowledge and skills of farmers by adopting scientific methods to increase the productivity of corn and other crops as well as livestock, particularly in corn-producing areas.

Through the FSTP, farmers are expected to produce between four to six tonnes per hectare of corn and other crops by applying new technologies learned during the training.

FSTP started in 1994 by Dr. Romulo Davide of UPLB and has been adopted province-wide in Cebu and in the provinces of Siquijor, Negros Oriental, Leyte, Occidental Mindoro, and now in Davao Oriental.

DoST through the FSTP will provide technical and financial support for Research and Development, provide technology transfer through the development of appropriate production technologies and extension modalities to be used by LGUs and their farmer-scientists clientele, and link the farmers with the Techno Gabay Programme through the Farmers Information and Technology Services (FITS) Centres.