The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) here has recommended the planting of corn and other crops requiring less water amid the threat of Super El Niño.

OPA Information Officer Christian Dubria said in an interview on Thursday that the Department of Science and Technology, during the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council meeting on Oct. 5, presented that the dry spell is forecast from November until December, while drought is expected early next year.

Dubria said corn has a promising return, citing the success of a farmer in Patnongon municipality who was named Outstanding Corn-Based Farmer in the 2026 Regional Gawad Saka Award of the Department of Agriculture.

Rex Baldestamon, a retired ship captain turned corn farmer, adopted High-Density Planting (HDP), which resulted in high corn production in his nine-hectare lowland.

The HDP, Baldestamon said in a separate interview, is a modern agricultural approach that optimizes the use of the cornfield by planting more seeds. Through HDP, the space where weeds could grow is eliminated, thus reducing the need for pesticides and labor.

Quarterly, he could harvest 140 sacks, or 8 tons per hectare, which he sells for PHP25 to PHP26 per kg.

“I could earn as much as PHP165,000 per hectare per cropping from the corn production,” he said. (PNA)