Hybrid Rice for Unfavorable Rice Lands
Thanks to hybrid rice, farmers in Nalook, Kalibo, Aklan are not anymore harvesting a yield this low.
Husband and wife Danilo and Bienvenida Bartolome, for instance, are now netting more than 100 cavans per season from their one-hectare farm planted to hybrid rice, which they are renting for 20 cavans per season.
The couple was hesitant at first to try hybrid rice because its seeds were more expensive and they were not quite familiar with the technology. They finally tried it in 2005 upon learning of its bright prospects from the Farmers’ Field School. Since then, their yield never went below 150 cavans, and their profit reached around P70,000 per season. “We actually get a gross yield of as much as 184 cavans with hybrid rice,” Bienvenida said.
Jesybeth Abayon is also renting a one-hectare farm in Nalook for 20 cavans per season. Like the Bartolomes, who are her neighbors, she tried hybrid rice and got a higher yield from it.
Her yield, however, was not as high as that of the Bartolome’s because in the wet season of 2007, her field was affected by a typhoon. She only had a gross yield of 80 cavans and sold this at P10 per kilo, leaving her a net profit of P5,000 minus the input cost and rent.
“Even though I had very small profit, I am still very glad that I learned about hybrid rice. Because of its higher yield potential, I was still able to have 80 cavans. If I did not plant hybrid rice, I would have gone home not just empty-handed but perhaps with P5,000 debt to pay,” Jesybeth said.
Ramon Iturralde, the agricultural technologist of Nalook, agrees with Jesybeth. He said that rice is still the number one crop grown in Aklan in spite of the province’s vulnerability to rains and typhoons. Hence, rice farmers often have very low profit or even negative income.
“Rice farming here is really not that profitable because of the rains,” Bienvenida said. Her field was also affected by a typhoon this dry season of 2008 and yet she still harvested 163 cavans with hybrid rice. She believes that her yield could have been 200 cavans if not for the typhoon because she had as much as 300 spikelets per panicle.
Since 2005, more and more farmers in Nalook have been growing hybrid rice, and they even organized themselves into a cluster.
The members planted thirty hectares of land to hybrid rice, and they are receiving 50 percent seed subsidy and free 5 kg of zinc sulfate, 4 sachets of Bio N fertilizer, and 5 bags of organic fertilizer per hectare. The cluster was also given a drum seeder and rotary reaper, and soon, the cluster will also receive a flatbed dryer.
Itturalde said that the members are given discounts on their rent of these farm equipment. And from the discounts and freebies, they are saving more than P5,000. Hence, he hopes that more farmers will join the cluster.
“I am encouraging farmers to join our cluster or [organize] another so that they will avail of the benefits too. And, of course, for them to have higher yields and profits even during unfavorable seasons,” he added.
