Corn farmers cited

The government, through the Department of Agriculture (DA), CropLife Philippines, and Pioneer Hi-Bred Philippines recently presented successful farmers planting Bt corn — the corn borer pest-resistant hybrid varieties currently being commercialized in the Philippines — to the public during the DA’s "Mais Pangkabuhayan" week-long event held at the agency’s office in Quezon City. The DA and Pioneer provided separate plaques of recognition to the farmers’ for their high productivity using the new farming technology product.

Caloy Guevarra of Mexico, Pampanga and Lito Dinopol of Koronadal, South Cotabato were among the model farmers awarded in this event. Both Guevarra and Dinopol attained high corn yields using PioneerR hybrids with YieldGard* Corn Borer Protection during the last dry season planting.

Agriculture Secretary Cito Lorenzo cited the farmers for their individual achievements and thanked the private sector, through CropLife, for introducing the technology in the country. Lorenzo hopes that more successful farmers would soon add up to the list of those using these new tools and other hybrid corn technologies meant to further support the ongoing efforts of the government to attain food sufficiency through the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Corn Program. He added that if the weather continues to be favorable, the country may reach a record five million metric tons (MT) by end of the year, compared to 4.6 million MT in 2003.

As a token of recognition, Pioneer provided each winning farmer with free PioneerR corn hybrids with YieldGard Corn Borer Protection for this wet season’s planting.

"We are very thankful to the DA for their initiative in showing to everyone that there are, indeed, Bt corn farmers who have first-hand experiences utilizing the benefits of the technology," said Pioneer business manager Jet Parma. "Caloy Guevarra, Lito Dinopol, and the other farmers simply deserve this special day for them to be recognized by the government."