Quezon City —Corteva Agriscience today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Agriculture to lift the nation’s rice and corn productivity.
The collaboration will focus on three projects – Rice EduFarm, Corn EduFarm and Fall Armyworm Mitigation.
Rice and corn smallholder farmers from across 40 municipalities will benefit from 80 EduFarms and 800 TechnoFarms covering a total of 50,000 hectares that will serve as educational training facilities across the Philippines. The project aims to improve Filipino farmers’ rice and corn productivity and profitability through access to agronomic education as well as new seed and crop protection technologies.
The EduFarms will provide farmers with season-long, on-field and in-classroom training that will cover land and seed preparation; seed applied technology and farm mechanization; planting density; weed control and nutrient management; insect and disease control; harvesting and processing; as well as marketing and financial management.
“Across Asia, Corteva Agriscience’s focus is on enabling smallholder farmers to produce more and help put food on every table. We are also playing our part in supporting nations achieve their food security and self-sufficiency goals. Corteva’s vision in shaping the future of agriculture by providing better access to agronomic education as well as seed and crop protection technologies to Filipino farmers will help them to flourish and better contribute to the success of this nation’s economy,” said Managing Director, ASEAN, at Corteva Agriscience, Ms Farra Siregar.
The Department of Agriculture will be calling for progressive farmers in eligible municipalities to participate in the EduFarms. This project will commence in November 2019, with lead farmers expected to graduate in May 2020.