The Cebu provincial government trained 22 farmers to boost local production of corn seeds in Cebu.
The seed growers training and certification held last Dec. 16-18 will help farmers increase their production and income.
Provincial Agriculturist Dr. Roldan Saragena said the training was in support of the Farmer Scientist Training Program (FSTP) of the Capitol.
The Capitol has been importing open-pollinated corn variety (OPV) seeds from the University of the Philippines Los Baños and in Mindanao for FSTP.
Mirabel Amado, agriculturist II, said the province will buy the corn seeds from them.
However, these locally produced OPV seeds must first pass the standards of the National Seed Quality Control Services of the Bureau of Plant Industry. If it passes muster, it will be labeled certified seeds and can be sold to the market at a higher value.
The current market price of certified seeds is P35 per kilo. Those without certification are only priced at P15 per kilo.
With the availability of OPV corn seeds, the farmers would not be forced to use native corn seeds again.
The participants, who are farmer-scientists themselves, would be able to get licenses as seed growers after the training.
The license is good for three years and will be retooled before it will be renewed.
Among the speakers were Catalino Higida of the Cebu Technological University-Barili campus, Jun Acabal of the Regional Crop Protection Center, Department of Agriculture and Nancy Quinapondan from the Provincial Agriculturist Office.
Higida discussed the balanced nutrients needed by corn plants. He also stressed the need for seed growers in Cebu. He said the insufficiency of high yielding corn seeds in Cebu hinders the productivity of the farmers.
Acabal taught the farmers about integrated pest management while Quinapondan presented measures for the prevention of post-harvest losses.
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