Following All PalayCheck Keys Is Best, Study Shows
Following all the eight key checks of PalayCheck, a dynamic rice crop management system developed by PhilRice, is important to increase yield and input use efficiency.
This is the result of the study titled “Evaluation of the PalayCheck System Minus-One Key Check” that was conducted at the PhilRice Central Experiment Station during the 2008 dry season.
The yield and number of tillers and spikelets of rice plants from eight minus-one key plots were compared with those of the rice crops planted in the control plot in which all the key checks were, followed. This was done to know the relative contribution of each key check to rice yield.
Results showed that it is best to follow all the key checks as the control plot had the highest yield of 8.3 tons per hectare (t/ha). It also had the highest number of tillers, panicles, and filled spikelets.
On the other hand, minus key check 3 plot, which was planted asynchronously or delayed planting by two weeks, had the lowest yield of 4.3 t/ha or 50 percent lower than the control plot, and the highest percentage of unfilled spikelets. These are due to pest infestation, particularly stem borer. Minus key check 5 plot likewise got a lower yield of 5.6 t ha or 33 percent lower than the control plot.
Other minus-one key check plots had 12 percent to 15 percent lower yields than the control plot. The recommendations not followed in these plots were key check 1 (used of certified seeds of recommended variety), key check 2 (no high and low soil spots after final leveling), key check 4 (sufficient number of healthy seedlings), key check 6 (avoid excessive water or drought stress), key check 7 (no significant yield loss due to pests), and key check 8 (cut and thresh the crop at the right time).
“The study stressed the importance of integrated crop management. It showed that it is very important to follow all recommendations to achieve optimum yield,” concludes Dr. Rolando T. Cruz, leader of the field study and PalayCheck System project.
Based on Australia’s Rice Check System that contributed to a yield increase of almost 4 t/ha in 2000, the PalayCheck System is one of the banner programs of PhilRice. Its promotion is one of the major projects under the Philippine Rice Self-Sufficiency Master Plan 2009-2010. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization funded the development of the Philippines’ PalayCheck System, which is now available in booklet form.
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