By MADELAINE B. MIRAFLOR
Global hybrid corn producer Bayer Crop Science has achieved an all-time high per hectare yield for two of its varieties during a government-led corn competition held in Mindanao.
In a statement, Bayer said that its two corn Dekalb corn hybrids posted a record high computed yield of 14.85 metric tons (MT) per hectare.
This was exhibited during a four-month planting program co-hosted by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and municipal agricultural offices in Compostela Valley, Davao City, and Sarangani.
In Compostela Valley, Bayer’s 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.
The second place was garnered by another Bayer corn hybrid, Dekalb 8899S, with 13.38 MT per hectare. This was recorded in Davao City.
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.
Samuel Ontic, DA’s corn coordinator at Malungon, said the government anticipates that more farmers will now be encouraged to plant corn as the new 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.”
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.
“The corn derby results show an achievable scenario on the potential yield and income that Mindanao farmers can get with the right inputs and sound crop management practices,” he added.