CLAVERIA, Misamis Oriental -- The Municipal Agriculture office here has revealed that the continuous rainfall had affected around 7,000 farmers after their corn harvests were hit by molds known as Aflatoxin last month.
Initial assessment of the Municipal Agriculture Office of Claveria place the number of affected farmers at 7,000 from 24 barangays.
“The estimate we have is still not final since we are yet to verify other areas, most of the farmers here, that is about 78 percent are corn farmers which is close to 11,000 farming households here in Claveria and I fear that almost everyone had been affected,” said Pat Dumaluan, Municipal Agriculturist of the town of Claveria, Misamis Oriental.
Dumaluan said the March harvest is part of the second cropping which is usually at the start of summer. But continuous and heavy rains in the town of Claveria damaged the harvested corn.
Dumaluan said when harvested corn gets wet during harvest, milling or during the drying process, the corn usually gets contaminated by Aflatoxin, rendering them useless.
Dumaluan pointed out that because of the rain, most of the farmers are also having a hard time harvesting the corn crops.
Dumaluan further stated that they are still trying to finalize the extent of the damage to the crops.
Jeffrey Apogan, a farmer from barangay Patrocinio, said this harvest is the worst by far.
“We planted about 10 hectares but because of the constant rain, our production has been very low, it did not even reach the break even cut of 50 percent. Before the equivalent area that I’ve planted our corn crops we usually get to more than 60,000 tons, now we are fortunate to reach 23,000 tons,” Apogan said.
Apogan said to make matter worse, farmers are also having difficulties selling their corn at a competitive price.
“The prevailing price in the market is around 12 pesos per kilo for a class-A corn. Now with the situation on hand, most of the smaller farmers here are forced to sell their corn as 9-pesos per kilo, you have to consider that they would have to transport their corn from Claveria to Cagayan de Oro City, that’s additional expense which I’m sure smaller farmer are barely able to keep up with,” said Apogan.
Creesan Kaabay, from Zone 3 Barangay Ani-e, likewise expressed his disbelief into the present condition of their harvest.
“I planted corn to an area of 5-hectares, but we got out of it is only equivalent to 1-hectare. We are already at a loss not to count the expense we spent on the seedling and both organic and commercial fertilizers,” said Kaabay.
The Department of Agriculture (DA)-Northern Mindanao has stated that they are still waiting for the final report from the town of Claveria.
“We will assess and make a proper plan of action after we get the report from the municipal agriculture office on the severity of the problem and we will also look into other reports from other parts of the province,” Mary Grace Sta. Elena, Chief of Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Division of the DA, said.