The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Batangas has approved a measure to improve the productivity of corn growers, which will increase their capacity to provide feeds to poultry and egg producers in the province. Vice Governor Mark Leviste, presiding officer of the SP, said a resolution was passed on Tuesday during their 35th regular session authorizing the provincial government, through Governor Hermilando Mandanas, to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the yellow corn enhancement production program. 'Instead of them taking from other places in the Philippines or importing from other countries, the provincial government supports farmers, landowners, and egg raisers, by planting yellow corn in our vast land,' Leviste said in an interview on Wednesday. The MOU secures a local market for the corn produced by DA-assisted farmers for use as feeds in poultry farms. Batangas is a top consumer of chicken feeds. Notably, the town of San Jose was recognized as the 'egg basket of the Philippines' in 2022. The DA's Corn Production Enhancement Project aims to increase the yield per hectare of yellow and white corn to increase its supply for animal use. Under the MOU, Batangas farmers will be given corn seeds and inorganic fertilizer to facilitate production for the poultry farm owners and egg raisers in the province. The parties to the memorandum include the Department of Agriculture Region 4-A (DA-4A), Batangas Egg Producers Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Batangas Organic and Natural Farming Agriculture Cooperative and San Jose Workers Multi-Purpose Cooperative. Leviste said that by planting corn, the agricultural sector in the province will be developed and the economy will be improved because the demand and supply are rotating in the province. 'We are the ones who plant, we will also buy from us (the province). We will also be able to sell the eggs from the corn-plucking chickens that also come from our province,' he said. This cycle will reinforce the local industry since the buyers are poultry farm owners and egg raisers from the province and corn is one of the most important raw materials for their livelihood, he added. The DA-4A said in June that Batangas has a good opportunity to increase its production since 'many sugarcane planters have switched to corn.' 'We already had a seminar in the eastern part of Batangas, in Nasugbu, Lian, Calatagan, Tuy and Balayan. We expect corn production to rise,' said Fidel Libao, the DA's regional technical director for Research, Regulations, and Integrated Laboratories Division in the region
Source: Philippines News Agency