2015 Volume 6 Issue 2 Pages 172-177
To increase production, land productivity, and farming efficiency in the corn-producing municipality of Dagohoy, Bohol, Central Philippines, the Candelaria Multi-Purpose Cooperative of the locality in collaboration with the Department of Agrarian Reform have proposed corn block farming involving the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARB’s) from two Agrarian Reform Communities (ARC’s) in the area. Funding agency of the proposed project required the needed number and type of machinery and equipment for a productive and profitable corn block farming in Dagohoy, Bohol ARCs. Thus, an in depth assessment on the farm machineries and equipment needs of corn block farming in the area was done based on the characterization of its natural and physical resources, as well as the size of the potential area for corn block farming. A set of participatory rural appraisal techniques were adopted in the assessment process. After the thorough analysis of the data collected, corn block farming was found to be suitable in the proposed project site considering soil types, climatic condition, availability of water, infrastructures, and other required facilities. The project site had 724 potential hectares for corn production. However, full mechanization was not possible due to existing moderate slopes (8-18% slope) in some areas. Traditional farming methods at production stage could be integrated considering that some of the fields do not favor full mechanization and the farming methods could also provide employment for the displaced labor in some farm operations. Due to high investment requirement, pilot production among others could be started in a 30-40 hectare portion to be managed by the Candelaria Multi-Purpose Cooperative.
