Matatag Seeds : Mightier than Tungro
Tungro can be a thing of the past. Try the Matatag seeds.
Since 2004 when the Matatag seeds were introduced, farmers have always been looking for them in PhilRice Midsayap.
Many areas in Cotabato are tungro hotspots. There are times when farmers are barely able to pay their pre-planting debts much less to source their money for the next planting season.
Such was the case of 58-year-old Florante Africa of Kabacan, North Cotabato. Florante used to plant IR 64. He had always been satisfied with it except that it is susceptible to tungro. When Florante learned from the local government unit of Kabacan that PhilRice Midsayap has Matatag seeds for his tungro problem, he did not take chances to plant Matatag 6. He is very pleased to see no traces of tungro in his one-hectare farm. All the more that he could see the difference as his neighboring farm was infested by tungro.
Tiburcio Flores, who used to be the barangay captain of Takepan, Pikit, North Cotbato did the right move when he followed his wife’s suggestion that they try the Matatag seeds. Tiburcio’s wife is in charge of the seed storage of PhilRice Midsayap. He can now be called as a seasoned Matatag farmer as he has been planting Matatag seeds since it was released in 2004.
On the average, Matatag 11 and 39 which are his favorites, yield 70 cavans per hectare at 60-65 kg/cavan. At P9.50 per kg, with P10-P12 hauling fee and farm expenses, Nong Tibu, as he is fondly called, usually earns 60 percent of his actual yield. He is also planting the newly released Matatag 39 this season.
Early maturing, does not need high fertilizer input, can endure drought stress, good eating quality, and tungro-resistant are the traits that Tiburcio likes about the Matatag seeds. Aside from tungro, Tiburcio observed that there had been low rice black bug (RBB) population in their farm since he started planting the Matatag seeds.
Tiburcio uses registered Matatag seeds under transplanted culture. While Tiburcio has been able to get away from tungro, he is now beset with rats and water scarcity problems. He is still trying to figure out how to address them.
To break the monotonous planting of recycled seeds and to ward off rice pests from her old varieties, Andresita Yatar, 72, tried planting the Matatag seeds.
Andresita who lives in Central Glad, Midsayap in North Cotabato was awed when she learned that her neighboring farmer got more than 100 cavans from his Matatag seeds. So, the next season, she also planted Matatag.
Proving what she earlier learned, Andresita had 127 cavans at 45-50 kg per bag from Matatag 15. She observed that Matatag 15 is early maturing and just like Tiburcio, there was low RBB population in her farm.
Despite success stories of Matatag farmers in Cotabato, there are still many who choose to continue with their old ways.
“Massive information drive is needed to promote the Matatag seeds especially in areas with tungro outbreak,” said Sailila Abdula, breeder of Matatag seeds in PhilRice Midsayap. He added that some farmers are still wary about planting Matatag as there are other higher yielding varieties. That’s because they fail to consider the disease resistance of the Matatag seeds.
At present, there are 16 Matatag lines while there are two varieties: Matatag 3 (NSIC Rc 118) and Matatag 6 (NSIC Rc 120). Abdula, averred that two Matatag lines are currently on the National Cooperative Tests (NCT), Matatag 15 and 32.
From year 2000 to 2007, more than 20,000 bags of seeds at 20 kg each have been sold to major tungro hotspot areas in the country. Most of these areas are in Mindanao like regions IX, X, XI, XII, CARAGA, and ARMM. Abdula said, Matatag 32 is a consistent top yielder for two cropping seasons both DSR and TPR in the NCT.
