The Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) Cereal Crops Section conducted a three-day training entitled “Basic Training on Open Pollinated Variety (OPV) Corn Seed Production and Certification and Corn Food Products Training” last September 19-21, 2023, at the IPB Seminar Room.
The first two days of the training were attended by farmers and seed growers who will undergo the accreditation process for corn seed growers. Participants were composed of farmers from Cavite, Batangas, Quezon, and staff from IPB and UPLB Central Experiment Station (CES).
Experts from IPB, Institute of Weed Science, Entomology and Plant Pathology (IWEP), Bureau of Plant Industry – Los Baños (BPI-LB), and the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Program Coordinating Office (DA APCO) discussed the following topics on the overview of the corn industry in the Philippines; varietal selection and recommendation; cultural and postharvest management practices; integrated pest management; nutrient management for open-pollinated varieties; BPI policies and guidelines on seed testing and certification; use of corn as silage; and seed reserve guidelines.
Subsequently, Mr. Sotero Mamalayan, chairman of the Brgy. Burol Organic Agriculture Cooperative shared his experiences as a contract corn seed grower with IPB and success stories of their cooperative in producing IPB corn varieties.
The third day of the training was attended by 68 barangay nutrition scholars (BNS) from Calamba City, and nine members of the Brgy. Burol Organic Agriculture Cooperative (BBOACo).
Dr. Clarissa B. Juanico, Associate Professor at the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food (IHNF) and current director of the Barangay Integrated Development Approach for Nutrition Improvement (BIDANI) program, discussed basic nutrition, the nutritional properties of corn and its food uses.
The participants watched video presentations of corn food preparation using nixtamalization and received samples of crunchies made of 80% pigmented corn. Champorado preparation using IPB Var 6 corn grits was also demonstrated afterwards.
The three-day training is part of the Institute’s valuable efforts to promote our varieties and technologies. (Lorna G. Matanguihan, Ayn Kristina M. Beltran)