IN a move to help boost the corn industry in Ilocos Norte, the Mariano Marcos State University 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 .
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.