CITY OF ILAGAN, PHILIPPINES— The Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 2 (DA-RFO2) and the city government here had agreed to establish an I-Corn Complex worth P196.7 million.
The agreement was reached after a consultation meeting led by DA Region 2 Executive Director Narciso Edillo, Regional Technical Director for Operations and Extension Roberto Busania, Corn Program Regional Coordinator Paul Vincent Balao and Ilagan City Agriculturist Moises Alamo.
Edillo said the DA will provide P107 million while the city government of Ilagan will provide P89.7 million for the said complex. It will serve as a one-stop agri-commercial center.
“The I-Corn Complex will serve corn farmers not only those from the City of Ilagan but also Isabela and the Cagayan Valley,” he said, adding that this will solve problems in corn production, particularly on drying during the wet season.
Edillo said the complex will also be a post-harvest, processing and research facility that will ensure product quality and thus boost the income of farmers.
“We are grateful to the city local government of Ilagan for their desire to support our corn farmers through this project,” he said, expressing hope that the facility will sustain the status of Cagayan Valley as the top corn producer in the country.
Edillo added that the establishment of the I-Corn will also demonstrate the sustainability of technologies that will result in resource use efficiency, promote digitization and mechanization of corn production technologies and enhance farming productivity.
As to the funding of the project, Busania said that “[t]his is a good example of resources sharing between the local government unit and the Department of Agriculture.”
“This is great because there will be co-financing and co-ownership that will further strengthen the association of the national government and local government,” Busania added.
For Balao, this project which is funded through national and local government unit counterpart schemes will have a good impact on corn farmers, especially in this city tagged as the Corn Capital of the Philippines.
He explained that the first phase of this project is part of the interventions under the DA’s Farming and Fisheries Consolidation and Clustering Program, while phase 2 will be funded in 2024 for activities related to consolidation, drying, post-harvest and others.
In collaboration with the national government agencies, local government, state universities and colleges and other stakeholders, the DA said the project will be operated by the Asosasyon ng mga Ama-Siyudad ng Ilagan or Ama-Sila.
On behalf of Ilagan City Mayor Jose Mari Diaz, the Ilagan City Agriculture Office thanked the DA for making this project possible, which was a collaborative effort that started years back.
Alamo noted that with the strong partnership shown for this project, “we are nearly heading to success” and that by 2024, the facility will be operated starting February with the operation of the Corn Innovation Center whose construction started this third quarter of 2022.”
The mechanical drying facility as one of its components will help farmers cope with losses and damage during calamities,” Alamo said.
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