IN a move to help boost the corn industry in Ilocos Norte, the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) conducted a skills training program for improved honey corn cultivation to 33 farmers in Barangay San Andres in Sarrat last month.
Daniel Tapaoan Jr. of the MMSU Strategic Communication Office said the skills training was led by faculty extensionists from the university’s College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development (CAFSD).
Tapaoan said the training was part of CAFSD’s Niche Extension Project on honey corn, also called MMSU Glut 1.
He explained that MMSU Glut 1 is a registered variety with the National Seed Industry Council that has a 20 percent higher yield compared to the original honey corn.
When cooked into chicharron, it requires less cooking time of three or four hours, and has an 81-percent recovery rate, Tapaoan said.
During the training, the CAFSD extension coordinator, professor Glisten Faith Pascua, said the farmer-participants in Sarrat learned how to set planting calendars for different crops, improve planting material preparation, manage pest and postharvest, create corn-based value-added products and establish farmers’ cooperatives and corn enterprises.
Pascua said the training was the first phase of the three-year joint extension project of CAFSD and the local government of Sarrat.
“We shall be implementing the second phase of the training in January 2025 with a focus on the hands-on value-adding of corn products and literacy in enterprise development,” she said.
Serving as trainers are Raymund Julius Rosales, project leader, and Jovy Anne Pedro and Bryan Pungtilan, project staff members, who are also faculty members of the university’s Department of Agricultural Sciences.
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