Camotes farmers urged: Switch to yellow corn production

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia personally met with landowners and farmers in Camotes island to convince them to shift to planting yellow corn, which is highly in demand.

In a consultative meeting with some 450 landowners and farmers at the San Francisco municipal gym, Governor Garcia stressed to them the opportunities in yellow corn production that is in demand for manufacturing feeds, chips, and other products.

At least 20 institutional buyers have partnered with the Capitol, including Prifoods Corp., Universal Feed Mill Corp., San Miguel Foods Corp., Vienovo Philippines Inc., General Milling Corp., Pilmico Feeds, and Central Visayas Pork Producers Cooperative, among others.

These institutions has an accumulated demand for yellow corn at 426,400 metric tons per year, as per data from the Provincial Agriculture Office.

However, Cebu can only supply less than 1 percent of the said number, forcing these huge industrial firms to source their yellow corn requirements from other provinces, such as from Mindanao.

Pilar and the entire Camotes island, as per the Capitol’s news network, is fit for planting yellow corn, and it could be cultivated all year round with minimal need for irrigation.

The representatives of the different companies that were present in the consultative meeting committed to buying all the yellow corn that farmers from the island can harvest, giving them an assurance of ready buyers of their corn products.

Officials from the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) were also present in the event.

Aside from that, financial aid will also be provided by lending institutions to those interested in yellow corn production.

The governor brought along lending institutions Land Bank of the Philippines, which offers a 2 percent interest rate, and Cooperative Bank of Cebu, which has zero interest rate.

Capitol will be endorsing the farmers who are interested to borrow capital from these institutions for faster processing of applications and releasing of loans through the Capitol’s Enhanced Countryside Development or ECD program.

Governor Garcia also pledged continued assistance for the farmers who would shift to planting yellow corn, such as technical aid by the Provincial and Municipal Agriculture Offices.

If they reach a sizable number, the Capitol may also put up drying facilities in Pilar, similar to four post-harvest facilities being put up in Medellin that are each capable of drying 15 metric tons of corn kernel every ten hours — or 30 metric tons per 24-hour operation cycle.

The Capitol will also shoulder the insurance premium of yellow corn plants in an insurance program with the PCIC.

“Akong hagit ninyo, lihok mo. Paningkamot gyod mo. Kay ako maningkamot sad ko nga monindot inyong kinabuhi,” Gov. Gwen said.

In a related development, the first satellite office of the CBC had been established in Poro, Camotes Island with Governor Garcia, alongside the chairperson of the Cooperative Bank of Cebu (CBC), Director Farla Carolyn Garcia, gracing the ribbon-cutting and blessing.

CBC’s expansion to Camotes Island comes as part of Garcia’s Enhanced Countryside Development program.

This initiative aims to provide accessible financial services to fishermen, farmers, and small-medium enterprises with zero-interest loans, fostering economic growth and stability in rural areas. — /ATO (FREEMAN)