By By Julio P. Yap Jr.
Most village officials enforce the law to maintain peace and order in their respective communities, but a barangay chairperson in the province of Isabela introduced practical farming technologies in the hope of uplifting the lives of her farmer-constituents.
Jocelyn Zipagan, the practical and humble chairperson of Barangay Carabatan Punta in Cauayan City, says that it is important to lead a farming community by example.
Jocelyn Zipagan, chairperson of Barangay Carabatan Punta in Cauayan City.
Farming Innovations
By introducing farming innovations, she is optimistic that her constituents will also benefit from the improvements that she made to her corn plantation. As one of the beneficiaries of the Farmer-Led Extension (FLE) corn project, she applies the technique called the “to-see-is-to-believe” attitude.
FLE is an agricultural extension strategy that promotes technologies by harnessing the expertise and capabilities of farmer-leaders.This way, farmer-leaders can demonstrate and share the techniques with other farmers.
Zipagan says that once her fellow farmers observe that a technique is effective, they also adapt it. Farmers could easily learn more with the hands-on approach, she added.
Improvements
Previously, Zipagan harvested about 5,300 kilograms of corn from her plantation using conventional farming practices. To improve this, she tapped the expertise of Abel O. Sakiting, the field technician of Global Green Organic Fertilizer, Inc., makers of Amino Plus Foliar Fertilizer.
She learned that by applying Amino Plus Foliar Fertilizer at her corn plantation, her harvest could increase. Fulfilling her expectations, after the use of the fertilizer, Zipagan harvested at least 7,100 kilos of corn from her farm.She also observed that after using the product, the leaves of her corn plants became healthier, becoming greener in color.
Quick Supplementation
According to Sakiting, when sprayed, foliar fertilizer effectively adheres to the plant’s surface and provides quick supplementation.
Zipagan learned that plants sprayed with Amino Plus are more resistant to diseases and stresses in the field like drought, which is usually encountered in Isabela. Sakiting explained that damage to agricultural crops, like corn, could be prevented or minimized with the proper application of organic farm inputs.
The corn plants on the left were sprayed with Amino Plus, while the other plants on the right were grown with the usual farmers’ practices.
Incidentally, Amino Plus Foliar Fertilizer also contains effective microorganisms which can have long-term beneficial effects on the physical, chemical, and biological condition of the soil.
Benefits
These are just some of the factors as to why the corn plantation of Zipagan improved.
Sakiting said that unlike other fertilizers that are derived from fish and other natural sources, Amino Plus Foliar Fertilizer is not processed at high temperatures, preventing the denaturation of proteins and retaining amino acids, enzymes, vitamins, and natural oil. It can also boost the growth and productivity of rice, corn, vegetables, fruit trees, ornamentals, and many other
crops, he added.
Zipagan is optimistic that with the continuous use of the fertilizer, she can further improve the harvest from her farm and eventually convince the other farmers in her community to use the product.
This appeared in Agriculture Monthly’s September 2016 issue.Â
