DAVAO CITY –— Some 150 banana farmers with 50,000 hectares in Davao del Norte have decided to shift into corn farming after Fusarium wilt or Panama disease affected their farms since last year.
The farmers incurred huge loss on their plantations which will take years to recover given the length of the healing period, a condition which prompted them to shift to planting corn.
Because of the said condition the provincial government intervered to cushion the economic impact among the farmers.
Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib on February 22, 2023 distributed two bags of hybrid corn seeds, fertilizers, and handed P4,430 pesos to each affected farmer with the help from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Addressing himself to the affected farmers during the distribution, Jubahib said, “We need to diversify because of the problem; we are giving new variety of corn called the Asian hybrid. We will provide seed money but you return it after your harvest. We can provide you the diesel and the equipment, but make sure you will return the seed money for others to avail the same opportunity.”
Alphabet G. Gulanes, senior provincial agriculturist of Davao del Norte, said that the Corn Program Assistance was aimed at helping banana farmers who stopped growing bananas and made a new beginning in their corn fields..
“The initial assistance will be good for 50 hectares of farmland,” Gulanes said.
Jubahib said based on his talks with agriculture scientists from Israel, South Korea, and China “Until now, there is no complete solution or cure to the banana disease, that is why we need to help the farmers who have shifted from banana to corn.”
According to science, Fusarium wilt of banana is a classical vascular wilt disease. The pathogen is considered to be a hemibiotroph, since the initial infection establishes a biotrophic relationship with the host but eventually transitions to a necrotroph where host tissue is killed (Dita et al., 2018; Ploetz, 2019).
It says Fusarium can live dormant in the soil for about thirty yearts or until it is stimulated to germinate by a susceptible host
The farmers cannot sustain the economic loss, given the years to recondition and clear the soil.
Jubahib said he is supporting the farmers because, “Corn will only take you four months from planting to production. We made the ceiling price for the farm gate which should not be less than 17 pesos per kilo. This is part of the program we launched last year to address corn prices.:
The diseases have caused huge losses among banana plantations worldwide.- Eugene Hinutan
