Wednesday, April 11, 2007 Corn production boosts S. Cotabato town's economy
BANGA, South Cotabato -- Sights of young children on top of grazing carabaos and smells of burnt leaves would welcome visitors in this rustic town on any given day.
More than 60 years after the pioneer settlers, through the National Land Settlement Administration headed by Gen. Paulino Santos, set their foot here life for most of the residents virtually remained almost the same.
Day in and out, farms still brimmed with planting or weeding activities even though cable television, Internet and cellular and landline telephone systems have invaded the town in recent years.
Banga, which was carved out of the then municipality of Koronadal, is no doubt one of the greenest municipalities the country has ever had.
And signs are not around that the town will cease to be a major agricultural producer, with officials banking on the decades-old corn industry to further fuel the wheels of development that will propel the locality into new heights.
"Municipality-wise, our town is the biggest corn producer in the country. Corn has played, and will continue to play, an important role in sustaining our local economy as well as the country's corn industry," said Mayor Isidro Janita.
Along with other local officials, Janita bravely claimed that their town is the "Corn Capital of the Philippines."
Corn fields dominate the town's agricultural landscape more than rice and other high value crops.
Of the town's total agricultural land area of 24,034 hectares, 61 percent is being utilized for corn production, only 28 percent for palay farming and 11 percent for high value crops.
On the average, Banga’s corn production yields 25,600 metric tons per cropping season or 76,800 metric tons per annum.
Corn can be harvested three times a year, since a cropping season last only from three to four months.
"Our annual corn harvest is the largest in Central Mindanao and probably in the entire country under the municipal category," Janita said.
Janita said he conducted a research and found out that "Banga in the 1960s was the top corn producing town in the country."
At the time, our municipality was producing 850 metric tons yearly, he claimed.
To further boost the town's corn industry, municipal councilor Cristito Fuentes, chairman of the agriculture committee, said the local government has distributed 150 carabaos to augment farm productivity.
"We encourage the beneficiaries to plant corn to further increase production. We distributed the carabaos because most farmers could not afford to buy tractors," he said.
The carabaos were paraded early this month during the opening of the "First Mindanao Corn Congress."
At the congress, the town also vied for a Guinness Book of World Records on the longest grilled corn, although there's still no feedback up to now whether the attempt was successful.
Janita said they have arranged for a six-kilometer stretch of road in Barangay Kipot where corn would be grilled simultaneously over charcoal.
The corn congress was the first for Mindanao farmers. Janita said holding the congress in the town would augur well in further positioning the potentials of the locality's corn industry.
At least nine corn companies headed by biggies like Pioneer and Monsanto participated in the corn congress timed also for the 66th foundation anniversary of the town.
Seeing the potentials of Banga's corn industry, the National Government through the Department of Agriculture has set up a modern corn post-harvest facility and trading center in the town.
The 200-ton capacity post harvest facility costs P22.8 million.
"This facility was primarily put up to strengthen the corn industry of the town. This will address the perennial problem of farmers on drying their corn," said Abusama Alid, DA regional director.
A published study made by the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension concluded that improper post harvest practices have been blamed to the buildup of molds in corn, which causes aflatoxin.
Corn with very high aflatoxin levels, when eaten by animals or humans, could result in biological disorders or even death, the study pointed out.
Corn has been sustaining the economy of Banga that it opened another window of opportunity for enterprising residents.
Previously, corn waste materials were burned or left to rot but not anymore now. This gave birth to the local cornhusk industry.
These corn waste materials are precious to the Corn Husk Association of Banga as garbage is to recycling companies.
For about four years now, various products generally fashioned out of cornhusks made by the association have quietly found their way in the foreign shores of the United States of America and Australia.
Their product line includes home and Christmas decors, dolls, bags, slippers and flower vases, among others.
Cornhusk products have been chosen as the town's "One town, One Product," a scheme pushed by the Department of Trade and Industry that encourages municipalities to focus on one marketable product.
"Corn has not only helped our farmers send their children to school but it also turned housewives into productive individuals through the cornhusk industry," Janita said.
But while the local government vowed to strengthen the town's corn industry, cultivation of the controversial Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn, despite studies that it can increase yields by 10 to 12 tons per hectare, is not being promoted in the area.
"We discourage the planting of Bt corn in the locality," said Janita, urging the national government to ban the transgenic crop on grounds that "there is still no world-wide scientific consensus on its safety to human consumption and the environment." (BSS)
