THE town of Asturias is working on strengthening its agriculture and tourism industries to win more investors.
In an interview, Asturias Mayor Jose Antonio Pintor said the town has been investing in infrastructure to make it easier for farmers to transport their goods.
They also have plans to further boost the town’s livelihood, which is corn production.
Asturias is the biggest corn producer in Central Visayas.
On Saturday, May 8, 2021, Pintor led the inauguration of the town’s corn mill plant.
“This is to ease the burden of corn farmers who go to San Remigio and Balamban for corn milling,” said Pintor. “Making this facility accessible will encourage more farmers to plant more yellow corn.”
High demand for yellow corn is so far seen in animal feeds. Cebu requires about 20 million kilos of yellow corn every month for swine feeds alone.
“The demand really is so high. We have yet to meet it,” he noted.
Asturias’ sprawling fertile land makes it ideal for yellow corn production. At present, the town has about 200 hectares dedicated to corn plantation.
To open more business opportunities, Pintor said wider farm-to-market roads were built, making transportation of goods accessible and efficient. The Asturias local government also provided seedlings and introduced a “plant now, pay later” campaign.
Later on, as the town attracts more farmers to venture into yellow corn production, Pintor said they would invite investors to set up businesses related with corn processing.
“But first, we will need to boost our production volume,” he said.