Two corn Dekalb corn hybrids of agriculture leader Bayer Crop Science emerged as top notchers in a government-led corn competition in three Mindanao sites, posting a record high for the region with a computed yield of 14.85 metric tons per hectare.
A four-month planting program co-hosted by the Department of Agriculture and municipal agricultural offices in Compostela Valley, Davao City and Sarangani exhibited the highest potential yield of the hybrids, given optimum growing conditions and proper crop management.
In Compostela Valley, Dekalb 8719S came out a first place with 14.85 MT per hectare. Its yield was 14.12 MT in Davao City, also the highest yield in the province.
In Davao City, the second place was garnered by another Bayer corn hybrid, Dekalb 8899S with 13.38 MT per hectare.
Samuel Ontic, DA Malungon municipal corn coordinator, said the government anticipates more farmers will be encouraged to plant corn as the new corn varieties offer bigger profitability potential for corn planting.
“That is really our objective in putting up these technology-demo sites—to show farmers the best hybrid corn varieties suitable in their areas,” said Ontic. “Varieties perform best depending on the location and this activity demonstrates which corn hybrids are most ideal for their farm.”
The computed yield from Bayer’s products are highly significant in the Philippines where the average corn yield is only at 3.1 MT per hectare based on Philippine Statistics Authority records.
The corn derby in DA Malungon was conducted in MTDC – Integrated Communal and Research Garden, Sitio Basak, Malandag, Malungon, Sarangani province during the September 2019 to January 2020 cropping season.
As part of the competition protocol, two different types of fertilizers were applied to all the competing hybrid corn varieties. This way, farmers would have the opportunity to determine which fertilizer and fertilization level to use for optimum plant growth.
“We recognize the importance of having a sustainable corn industry in Mindanao to meet
demand and we’re excited to have new corn hybrid varieties in the pipeline that farmers here may consider in the coming season,” said Erwin Vibal, head of marketing for Bayer Crop Science.
