Despite Typhoon Frank’s Fury, Iloilo Farmers Vow to Continue Using Bio-organic Fertilizer
Members of the Northern Iloilo Corn Producers Association, Inc. (NICPAI) led by their chairman, Jose “Joe” Baldomero, and vice chairman, Jesus “Jess” Salcedo, assert that if not for Durabloom they would have surely suffered much from typhoon Frank’s fury. The corn plants that survived the typhoon apparently had more than enough stored energy.
We were with the NICPAI members at Bantayan Island just before typhoon Frank hit Iloilo and Cebu, and they were saying they never regret using Durabloom as their previous crops were never as pleasing to the eyes as the Durabloom-applied crop. All of them, 13 in all, were expecting a bonanza barring any unforeseen event.
The following day after the typhoon hit the island, all of them already conceded they would be happy if ever they would get a breakeven income from their crops. We saw how gloomy their faces were while typhoon Frank continued to beat their crops.
As we write this story, northern Iloilo corn farmers were already harvesting their crops and we had the opportunity to see for ourselves the extent of Frank’s damage as we went around the corn lands of Sara, Iloilo during the last week of August. The corn plants that remain to be harvested were still standing, but Joe and Jess said the plants would have been more beautiful without typhoon.
LESSER YIELD LOSSES
Joe and Jess said that although there is a drop in the expected net income from their crops, they would still get some income. Both Joe and Jess have their own corn lands and, at the same time, finance the operations of a number of corn farmers.
Jess, an agriculture graduate, has 8 hectares (ha) of corn applied with Durabloom. He expects the total yield to drop by only 20 percent and hence, his income will not be on the deficit side. He added that the farmers who obtained farm financing from him, covering 200 ha, would have losses ranging from 20 to 30 percent.
Both Jess and Joe said their losses would be much more, resulting in a negative income, if they did not apply Durabloom on their crops.
“This is because there was so much energy stored in the leaves before typhoon Frank, enabling the plants to recover somehow,” Jess explained.
With Durabloom applied as basal fertilizer, he side dressed his plants at 20 days after planting. In contrast, he was already side dressing at 10-12 days after planting because the leaves of the plants were already yellowing, which is a sign of nitrogen deficiency.
UPLAND FARMERS STILL HAPPY
In general, farmers in the former grasslands of Sara are still happy with their harvest even as there is a decrease in heir yield. They are thankful to Durabloom and the variety they used because they would still be able to pay for the finances they obtained from NICPAI members.
Rey Puabin in Sitio Bakanan, Brgy. Del Castillo and Celso Tolentino in Brgy. Apostol said at least they will be able to pay their loans and will still have something left in the pockets.
Rey, a high school graduate, cultivates I ha that was given by his father-in law. Following the minimum tillage technology introduced earlier by Monsanto, he sprayed his farm with 4 liters of the herbicide Round Up because the weeds were very thick.
Three days after herbicide spraying, he furrowed his land at 70 cm apart. Then he applied Durabloom (10 bags/ha) and complete fertilizer (3 bags/ha) on the furrows. He planted the corn variety DK 818, a conventional variety of Monsanto. This was followed by the application of 4 bags urea per hectare at 25 days after planting.
Typhoon Frank hit his crop at 30 days after planting and all the plants fell down. Rey thought he would no longer get anything but the plants rose soon after typhoon Frank.
“My plants were able to recover because of Durabloom and DK 818,” he said. “Without Durabloom and DK 818, my yield would probably go down to 2 tons/ha.” He added that his crop was a lot better than his previous crops without Durabloom.
As a result, he will now be able to marry his common-law wife in a wedding ceremony after the corn harvest.
At another side of the mountains in Sara is Brgy. Apostol where Celso Tolentino cultivates 9 ha of productive corn lands, which he rents from a relative at -P1,000/ha/crop. Actually, he started to grow corn in 3 ha in 1992 and was earning P35,000/ha.
Last cropping season, he planted the stacked corn variety DK 818 RRYG in 1 ha and applied it with Durabloom. He harvested more than 7 tons of corn grains and got a net income of P60,000. His income enabled him to improve his house whose roof was previously made of cogon, as well as buy a generator, which will be his power source. Thus, his electric connection to the local electric cooperative will now be cut.
Through the years, his income from corn farming enabled him to buy a carabao, several appliances, and a motorcycle.
Like other Sara farmers, his present crop of DK 818 was also hit by typhoon Frank. Per hectare, he applied 10 bags of Durabloom and 2 bags of complete fertilizer as basal fertilizer. This was followed by 6 bags of urea.
Celso’s crop also recovered after the typhoon but he expects his yield to decrease by only 25 percent. This means that based on his previous yield of more than 7 t/ha, he could only expect a yield of at least 5.25 t/ha. His yield loss would be 1.75 t/ha, which would have meant a considerable additional income since the price of corn now has reached an all time high in four years. Even with that, Celso is also thankful he will still have an in come with Durabloom and DK 818.
The rice crop did not also escape Frank’s fury but Sara farmers are hopeful that those applied with Durabloom will not suffer much losses. NICPAI chairman Jose Baldomero and Romeo dela Rama are delighted that they would still get some income after deducting the production cost.
HOPEFUL
In Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, also in northern Iloilo, the 5-ha corn crop of Juanillo Balano, 61, was a sharp contrast to those in nearby Sara. He planted the Pioneer variety 30B80 last April 15 and typhoon Frank left nothing but broken stalks, which were under water for at least 24 hours:
He applied 40 bags of Durabloom but the crop never recovered because the stalks were broken and shredded by the storm. Actually, the crop was already at silking stage before typhoon Frank came.
All in all, his total production cost of P225,000 simply disappeared with the rampaging waters Frank created.
Despite his huge losses, Juanillo vows to continue using Durabloom in his next crops as he already saw its performance. He has high hopes that with Durabloom, he would recover from his losses in the next dry season crop.
Like Juanillo, Sara corn farmers also vow to continue using Durabloom and NICPAI members will even push its use further.
