An open mind to new technologies not only reaped high yield of close to 11 metric tons (MT) per hectare for corn farmer Edgar de Luna, this also threw him off as this year's coveted Gawad Saka awardee.

De Luna, 46, has long been planting corn in his hometown in Villaluna, Cauayan, Isabela for as long as he can remember.

Despite having gotten old in the farm, it wasn't among his attributes to think that he already knows everything about farming - as some farmers become hardened in their old farming practice and wouldn't open to new things.

De Luna is different. His farm is among the very first farms in the Philippines to be planted to the genetically modified (GM) Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn. It was where one of the field testings of Bt corn by seed producer Monsanto was conducted back in early 2000.

"I kept on attending all the seminars by the government. I'm not closed to new technologies. Even before field testing on Bt corn was conducted, I had already gone to Mindanao to see how it worked," he said.

For the last two years, he has devoted his five-hectare land for planting Bt corn, never giving Asiatic corn borers (ACB) a chance to lurk into his corn plants, lest infestation can cause severe damage to harvest. When a farm is severely struck by the pest, loss can be at a terrible 80 percent.

ACB can widely infest a farm when one is delayed in planting by one or two weeks compared to other farmers. Pests love to suck into newer sprouts.

But even when he is prompt, De Luna ensures he plants Bt corn which carries more advantage than just one compared to the plain hybrid variety. From his Pioneer 30Y80 seeds which he has been growing for about four seasons, he has been harvesting 10.5 to 10.8 MT per hectare.

The high yield apparently comes second as the Pioneer seed is first of all resistant to drought, is strong against typhoons or winds, and has higher shelling recovery rate of 84.5 percent compared to others' 75 percent.

The pest resistance is inherent, and farmers no longer have to intensively apply pesticides, as scientists have built in the ACB resistance in the seed through a protein gene that kills ACB once this is eaten.

"Seed selection is important. Bt corn yields 10 to 30 percent higher. Then land preparation and the use of organic fertilizers which increases nutrients in the soil helped a lot too," he said.

He may be paying higher for the cost of the technology, P5,500 for the seed. But the returns are compensating. At P9.60 per kilo for the Bt corn that has high marketability owing to its pest-free appearance and its firmness that slows accumulation of cancer-causing aflatoxin, De Luna earns a net income of P71,000 per hectare.

He also spends higher for mechanization-precision planter, deep chisel plow. But the same principle goes: Higher investment for a more predictable, higher harvest. His other expenses for a hectare includes organic fertilizer, P2,300; basal inorganic fertilizer, P2,600 for four bags; land preparation, P3,400; and for irrigation.

His use of organic fertilizer, which includes corn stalks that are decomposed on the farm, is also a reward since aside from being cheap, it helps the crop become more drought-tolerant and more vigorous in yield.

For the P30,000 prize that he got as Gawad Saka awardee which was handed to him by President Arroyo herself, this Bt corn farmer intends to invest more in technologies-shallow tube wells or pipes that will enhance his irrigation.

Now de Luna is not just a corn farmer. He also raises tilapia in his farm, grows rice and vegetables for his family's needs while the excess goes to market. His influence extends beyond his own household of a wife and two children (both he sends to school) as he has enticed other farmers to also find other better technologies being a councilor in his own town in Cauayan.

And how has he been nominated for the award?

"The municipal and provincial government observed my way of farming," he said.