TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan (PIA) — Cagayan Valley has sustained its status as the country’s number one producer of corn and second to Central Luzon in rice, an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Region 2 said.
Roberto Busania, regional technical director for operations, said the region has produced a total of 1.9 million metric tons of corn which contributed 25 percent of the total corn production nationwide, making Cagayan Valley the consistent top producer of corn in the country.
He said the region also produced a total of 2.9 million metric tons of palay, making it second to Central Luzon’s high production volume.
“The majority of the corn farmers plant yellow corn, a raw material used in the production of animal feeds while some produce white corn for human consumption,” Busania said.
The DA official also said that Isabela province, particularly the City of Ilagan, remains the biggest contributor to corn production in the region, followed by Cagayan province.
A demo farm for yellow corn in Delfin Albano, Isabela. (Photo courtesy of LGU Delfin Albano)
On rice proction, he said the agriculture department continuously develops and introduces improved varieties to help boost farmers’ production and income and to contribute to the food sufficiency agenda of the government.
“Region 2 is self-sufficient by 294 percent on rice. We have a surplus that is being transported to the National Capital Region, especially in the Metro Manila area, and in Region 3,” he said.
Busania also said DA is implementing the Farm and Fisheries Consolidation and Clustering (F2C2) program, which seeks to advance the interest and condition of small farmers and fishers by encouraging them to adopt the farming strategy from production, processing and marketing.
A demo farm for palay in Isabela province. (Photo courtesy of Melvin Santos)
“With this program, we assist farmer cooperatives from land preparation up to marketing. The objective of the program is to increase production, have higher incomes for the farmers, and provide better access to resources, technologies, and markets,” Busania added.
Aside from this, he also said they have already provided various assistance to over a hundred of farmer cooperatives in the region, including the construction of rural infrastructure such as farm-to-market roads, irrigation systems, postharvest facilities, storage, processing, and marketing facilities, in partnership with the private sector, concerned agencies, and local government units.
With the assistance and new technologies being introduced by the agriculture department, Busania is optimistic that the production of Cagayan Valley will further increase next year. (ALM/OTB/PIA Region 2)
