Agriculture Business Week

A multi-awarded agricultural engineer at the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE) has developed a state-of-the art but low-cost computer vision system (CVS) for analyzing the quality of milled rice.

He is Dr. Manolito C. Bulaong. In his CVS, an ordinary scanner serves as the “eye” of the system. It replaces the expensive digital cameras used in the conventional CVS for image acquisition. The image processing software, on one hand, extracts the shape and color patterns from each grain image.

The artificial neutral network (ANN) meanwhile acts as the “brain” of the system. It recognizes the shape and color patterns from each grain and learns the quality category it belongs.

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This article is co-authored by Lorelvn Joy Turnos, a research associate of Pioneer Hi-Bred Philippines based in Mindanao. For further information on this article, send your inquiries to mark.nas@pioneer.com.

In this issue, we will talk about another important bacterial disease of rice known as bacterial leaf streak (BLS), which is caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzicola. The disease is less popular and less invasive than bacterial leaf blight (BLB) caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, but is generally more prevalent and infectious during rainy seasons.

Symptoms and mechanisms of damages of the two bacterial diseases are almost similar. Hence, it is very important for the rice growers to gain skills and expertise in distinguishing what particular causal organisms are attacking their fields, and what types of symptoms are manifested by the crops. BLS infection usually comes in earlier than BLB, wherein disease symptoms become noticeable 40 to 45 days after seeding (DAS).

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A rice hull furnace (RHF) equipped with an automatic fuel feed system or ram-fed mechanism is now ready for commercialization in the Philippines. Pilot testing of the furnace was successfully conducted in Macalamcam A, Rosario, Batangas using a 5-ton flatbed paddy dryer.

Technical assistance and supervision during the installation and pilot testing was provided by  Engr. Pat Borlagdan Ph.D., Asst. Scientist, Post Harvest Section, Grain Quality, Nutrition and Post Harvest Center, IRRI with the help of Mr. Luis Soliban Jr. farm manager of the IRRI cooperator/owner of the flatbed dryer.

The idea of a rice hull furnace with an automatic husk feeding and ash removal system was initially conceptualized in 1996 by IRRI in collaboration with the Institute of Agricultural Engineering in the Tropics of Hohenheim University, Germany, and the Center for Agricultural Energy and Machinery of Nong Lam University (NLU), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This was the general tone of an article written by Diplomate Ag. Engr. Martin Gummert, Senior Scientist and Post Harvest Development Officer of IRRI entitled “New Rice Husk Furnace Takes Off in  Vietnam”, Ripple newsletter Jan-Feb 2007 issue published by the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC).

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A new japonica rice variety is getting popular among rice farmers in Pilar town of Bohol. It’s because this type of rice is of high quality and commands a premium price, especially in countries where it is not traditionally grown, including the Philippines.

This rice is now popularly known as Maligaya Special 11 or MS 11, which is also known as NSIC Rc170 and IRRI 142. And the good thing is that this japonica rice can now be grown in the Philippines’ tropical climate.

MS 11 is one of the new tropical japonica rice varieties that resulted from a pilot project called Germplasm Utilization for Value Added undertaken by Korea’s Rural Development Administration (RDA) coordinating scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna from 1992 up to the present. The project aims to develop high-quality, high-yielding temperate japonica rice cultivars that can adapt and grow in the tropical condition.

Fortunately, the Philippines has been one of the eight countries where adaptability tests for MS 11 were conducted. Local adaptation tests involved the Department of Agriculture (DA), Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and the Benguet State University in La Trinidad, Benguet.

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At 29, Romeo Yapit is awarded Outstanding Young Farmer of the Philippines. No doubt that’s quite an achievement.

This enterprising young farmer of Purac, Sinait, Ilocos Sur started fanning in 2002. He had to stop his schooling as he had to support his family for his father had a heart attack. He was a second year mechanical engineering student then.

Thinking of a marketable crop that would not consume much soil nutrients, Yapit observed that planting different vegetables year round and watermelon after rice was profitable.

This might be the solution, he told himself. So with the help of his brother Jerome, Yapit planted their 8,000 square meter land to various vegetables including eggplant and tomato. And he has been right; his strategy has worked out.

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A new tropical hybrid rice which was introduced last year has been proven to produce high yield under local conditions.

This is the TH-82 Hybrid Rice which was developed by US Agriseeds and distributed locally by Jardine Distribution, Inc. (JDI). Bobet Littaua, JDI product manager, said that in many cases, farmers who planted the new variety got 30 to 50 percent yield increase over previous varieties that they planted.

Littaua said that TH-82 adapts well to local conditions because the variety was developed using tropical germplasms. He added that TH-82 is unlike earlier hybrid rice varieties that were developed using parent lines from temperate countries.

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PhilRice promotes new rice varieties for adverse environments.

PhilRice advances the use of newly-developed varieties for adverse environments during the Institute’s field day, which was recently participated by more than 1,500 farmers and agriculture college students.

“[Adverse environments] and climate change have direct effects on rice production. Decrease in yield is expected when sea level increases, temperature intensifies, and rainfall patterns become erratic,” said Thelma F. Padolina, head of PhilRice Plant Breeding and Biotechnology Division.

With the theme, Addressing Climate Change thru Rice Science, the field day highlighted varieties recommended for environments prone to saline, drought, and flood.

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Almost 2,000 farmers from to municipalities covering 29 barangays of Palawan recently gathered in Brgy. Inagawan, Puerto Princesa for the first Palawan-wide farmers’ field day and forum.

Inagawan is one of the sites of the Location-Specific Technology Development (LSTD) program in Palawan. The program, which aims for farmers to develop farming technologies that are best suited to their specific farming conditions, is PhilRice’s support to the national Rice Self-Sufficiency Plan.

The field day included a field tour, viewing of exhibits, ceremonial turnover of rice hull carbonizer and drumseeder, and farmers’ forum. Moreover, it featured farm demonstrations showing the modified dapog technology, use of drumseeder, biomass recycling, Palayamanan® system, nutrient management through the leaf color chart and minus-one element technique, rice seed production technique, carbonized rice hull, and the flatbed dryer.

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Farmers in the El Niño-hit provinces of Isabela and Cagayan were able to double their incomes and increase their yields by an average of 200 percent despite the dry spell by planting hybrid rice seeds during the dry season, agriculture officials said.

Dr. Frisco Malabanan, national coordinator of Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice program of the Department of Agriculture (DA), said that the 68 farmer beneficiaries who took part in the Department’s hybrid rice technology demonstration project harvested an average of 164 cavans of palay per hectare (dry weight), which is equivalent to 8.86 metric tons per hectare (MT/ha) at 50 to 54 kilograms per cavan.

He said several farmers yielded as high as 253 cavans per hectare or 13.68 MT/ha using various hybrids such as SL-8H, Jolly Rice, Bigante, Mestizo 1, PHB 71, and Rizalina 333. The harvests are much higher than the farmers’ usual output of 3 to 4 MT/ha using inbred varieties, Malabanan said.

“This translates into an increase in profit of at least P30,000 per hectare from only P15,000. Hybrid rice achieves greater yields and thus farmers earn more without increasing their cultivation area,” Malabanan said.

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In recognition to his outstanding contributions in agricultural science, Dr. Caezar P. Mamaril, DA-PhilRice’s senior consultant, was conferred the 2009 Excellence Award, the highest honor given by the Philippine Federation of Professional Associations (PFPA).

Dr. Mamaril, a soil scientist, led the development and commercialization of the minus one element technique (MOET) kit offering a reliable, low-cost, and easy alternative technique for diagnosing soil nutrient status. MOET determines nutrient deficiency based on the actual performance of rice plants. This technique benefits farmers and agricultural technicians especially those in the remote areas who barely have access to soil laboratories.

Dr. Mamaril joined PhilRice in 1996 as part time agronomy and soils research consultant after retiring from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) where he worked as agronomist since 1972.

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The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) found in a study that using a mechanized harvesting, handling, and drying system in breeder seed production lessens labor and risk of seed contamination.

Led by Engr. Ricardo Orge, the researchers harvested, threshed and bagged breeder seeds in special jute sacks using mini-combine, a machine designed by PhilRice with harvesting, reaping and threshing functions. Then they transported the filled sacks to the drying area with a trailer and dried the seeds while inside the sacks.

“[In this mechanized postharvest system,] it would only take 9-10 hours from harvesting up to the time the seeds are dried to final moisture content of 12 percent. [But in the conventional method], it would take 27 hours per hectare,” says Engr. John Eric Abon who is one of the proponents of the study.

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A seaweed-based organic fertilizer which is said to address micronutrient deficiencies particularly zinc (Zn) deficiency in rice and other crops is one of the products that farmers should not have missed at the recent Agrilink Trade Show held at the 1Vorld Trade Center: Metro Manila in Pasay City.

Called MegaZinc Plus, it reportedly increases rice yield by a minimum of 20 cavans per hectare. It is said to increase resistance of rice plant to pest and diseases, increase tillering, induce uniform maturity of grains, and increase milling recovery. It has 1.62 percent zinc seaweed extracts plus auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins as active ingredients.

Florentino Pangilinan, owner and general manager of Central Luzon Farmers Agro Center in Cabanatuan City, the producer of MegaZinc Plus, agreed that zinc is the most critical micronutrient to rice growth, with Zn deficiency now considered as the third most widespread nutrient disorder in lowland rice areas of Asia next to nitrogen and phosphorus.

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Unlike other rice farmers who are not able to explore other livelihood opportunities, a farmer in Titay, Zamboanga Sibugay used his entrepreneurial skills and right attitude to shape him into a successful rice financier, miller and trader today.

Born in the small town of Titay, Leonardo “Bobong” Talania was raised in a family of 12 with his father supporting them with a mere 5-hectare rice farm. Bobong recalls that has been already helping in farm work when he was only 12 years old. And the, r also came a time when his father considered selling their small farm just to keep his siblings in school. But then later on, he would find out that the decision to continue farming had been the right one for his family, especially for Bobong.

After Bobong had finished high school in 1976, his father could no longer send any of them to college. So from then, Bobong’s focus had shifted back to rice farming as this was their only source of livelihood.

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Following a large-scale rice ratooning projcet in Ormoc City where some 500 hectares of irrigated rice farms were ratooned last March to May, the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) program is bent on pushing the adoption of the technology up to the year 2013.

Dr. Frisco Malabanan, GMA rice program director, said that the ratooning project pushed by Mayor Eric Codilla involving 274 fanners in 17 adjoining barangays was very successful. The fanners were able to produce 20 to 30 cavans per hectare in addition to the more than 100 cavans per hectare of the original harvest.

Ratooning is a technique where the rice stubbles after harvest are allowed to produce new growth that will bear new panicles that are harvestable in just 45 to 60 days later. This is an inexpensive way of producing a second harvest of rice from the same plants because there’s no need to plow the land, no need to plant new seedlings and only one sack of fertilizer is applied per hectare. There’s less likelihood that the crop will be damaged by pests and diseases or by inclement weather because the growing period is very short.

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