Different kinds of ear rots are very prevalent in this region, and corn farmers would find this topic both insightful and useful for their crop management
Last month, we discussed a number of important corn diseases in the Philippines and how they affect crop yield. When foliar diseases attack our crops, their effect is mainly the reduced photosynthetic capability of the plant. Once those green leaves turned brown and die, the plant is essentially powerless in supporting the developing ears. Stalk and root rots, on the other hand, is another problem that can lead to low stand at harvest, low ear counts, and significant yield losses. Fungi and bacteria that infect the stalks and roots can lead to lodging, poor ear filling and development, arid premature death. Foliar diseases can sometimes lead to stalk and root diseases. This time, we will move our topic to another set of diseases that attack the most valuable part of our corn plants, the ears.
There are several fungi that can attack the ears and the kernels. Usually, infection starts in the field before harvest. These fungi can affect the quality of kernels and can give a very bad appearance on the harvested ears. Ear rots can be observed in many parts of the country but it is more prominent in the cooler parts of Mindanao and Visayas. There could be minor occurrences in Luzon but yield losses are not as high as those reported in the south. Impact of ear rots on yield per hectare ranged from 30 percent to 80 percent reduction and can lead to inferior grain quality. It can also reduce the nutritional value of affected grain. Growers and processors will also need to spend more for postharvest handling and processing.
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January 3rd, 2009 | Tags: Corn/Maize, Disease, Mycotoxins | Category: Agri Tips, Corn/Maize | Leave a comment
Chemically, water is the combination of hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O); these are joined in the ratio of 2 hydrogen atoms to 1 oxygen (as H20). It is the most abundant chemical substance, and it performs endless functions whether it’s in the form of liquid, solid or gas.
Water is vital to nutrition. It is the solvent wherein the metabolic reactions of the body take place. It carries the nutrients which are subjected to cellular metabolism, and the waste products of metabolism. It also serves to disperse the heat generated by the metabolic reactions. In many of the metabolic reactions water is either added or subtracted. Subtracted water is termed metabolic water, while the addition of water is termed hydrolysis.
Animals can survive for a longer period without feed than they can without water. Only oxygen is more important to animal life. Fortunately, under most conditions, water can be readily provided in abundance at little cost. Water is also found in all feeds.
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January 3rd, 2009 | Tags: Acidifier, Livestock, Water | Category: Livestock | Leave a comment
The cultivated Asian rice (Oryza sativa L), being a highly domesticated crop, has several major pathogens due to its long history of dependence on human beings. Early breeding efforts during the Green Revolution focused more on grain yield because of pressing worldwide problem on poverty and population growth. In the past two or three decades, however, disease resistance has been included as one of the major objectives of breeding programs worldwide.
In the first two parts of this series, we discussed bacterial leaf blight and rice blast, diseases usually infecting the leaves. Leaf blade diseases reduce leaf area available for photosynthesis. Bacterial blight and blast, on the other hand, can also infect other plant parts (as in the case of neck blast, collar blast and node blast) or even whole plants (”kresek” in bacterial blight infection at seedling stage).
In this third part of our rice diseases series, we will explore two of the most common sheath diseases-sheath blight and sheath rot. In rice, the leaf blade and the leaf sheath are continuous, which are joined by the leaf collar. The leaf sheath is wrapped around the culm above the node.
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January 3rd, 2009 | Tags: Disease, Leaf Sheath, Rice | Category: Rice | Leave a comment
Founded as a nutritional ingredient manufacturer in 1961 by R. WW and Mary Nelson, Kemin Industries, Inc., is a private company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. It produces ingredients and invents processes that provide nutritional and health solutions for humans and animals.
Grain Storage Practices (GSPs) is the primary mechanism developed by Kemin Industries to control and reduce hazards in cereals. All GSPs recommend the use of suitable and approved preservatives (e.g. Myco Curb range of nutricines) to prevent heating and mold growth.
Grains are seeds from cereal plantsmembers of the grass family, Gramineae. They constitute the bulk of the high-energy (carbonaceous) feeds. Some contain as much as 85% carbohydrate (starch) and 6% fat. Most harvested feed grains have relatively little moisture, about 10%, and are not as variable in composition as forages. Representing more than 60% of the total tonnage of concentrate feed, corn is, by far, the most widely used high-energy feed in the United States and elsewhere.
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January 3rd, 2009 | Tags: Cereal, Disease, Grains, Pest, Spoil | Category: Other Crops | Leave a comment
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.
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January 3rd, 2009 | Tags: PalayCheck, Rice | Category: Rice | Leave a comment
The folks in Northwestern Luzon swear that age-old lore is often quite accurate in predicting the weather but they cannot explain why.
According to Evangeline Galacgac and Criselda Balisacan, researchers from the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte, there is indeed a scientific basis to weather lore. In their study on weather lore which has earned for them national recognition, they found that the appearance of clouds, wind direction, humidity, and animal/insect behavior are among the atmospheric and astronomic indicators used by old folks.
For instance, old folks predict rain when the sky is red during sunrise. The researchers explained that a red sky in the morning is due to the sun shining through dust particles being pushed up by an approaching low pressure system, which brings in moisture. The rain would come when dense clouds in the form of mountains and huge towers are seen in the east or west at dawn.
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January 2nd, 2009 | Tags: Clouds, Jatropha, Plants, Weather | Category: Plant, Special Report | Leave a comment
Two graduates of medical technology residing in Padre Garcia, Batangas have become successful farmers with nothing but high praises for the bioorganic fertilizer Durabloom, which is manufactured by Novatech Agri-Foods Industries.
These farmer-innovators took the lead in Batangas in using Durabloom in a large scale on their sugarcane crops, and now vow to use it completely on their crops next year as they expect a big increase in their cane and sugar yields.
Indeed, the sugarcane crops of Oscar A. Tagalicud, 55, and Imelda OlaveLindog, 51, in Brgy. San Felipe have become the envy of many cane planters in Batangas as they now see the luxuriant growth of their crops. Barely five to six months have passed since the crops were applied with Durabloom but their canes have had a diameter of almost 1.5 inches towards the end of last August.
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January 2nd, 2009 | Tags: Anthuriums, Durabloom, Entrepreneur, Farming, Fertilizer, Pigs/Hogs, Poultry | Category: Entrepreneurs, Farming, Livestock, Ornamental, Poultry | Leave a comment
Start the cropping season right with the use of high quality and certified seeds.
Studies show that the use of certified seeds contributes 10 percent to production growth, and that there is 15 percent to 20 percent yield advantage in using hybrid seeds.
The use of these high quality seeds is one of the interventions that the rice self-sufficiency program promotes to help farmers improve their productivity toward sufficient yield levels. The program aims to achieve a 100 percent rice self-sufficient industry by 2013 when the projected population of 94.38 million Filipinos will require 21.58 million tons of palay to attain rice self-sufficiency.
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January 2nd, 2009 | Tags: Hybrid, PhilRice, Rice, Seeds | Category: Rice | Leave a comment
Farmers in Ilocos Norte normally have small farms, 0.75 hectare (ha) on the average. Seldom are there farmers with more than 3 ha. But for hard working farmers, farm size is not of a constraint to successful farming even under the semi-arid conditions of the Ilocos provinces.
Compared to most farmers, Onofre Balantac of Barangay Sulongan, Pasuquin and Honorio dela Cruz of Barangay San Guillermo, San Nicolas are relatively young at 38 years old. However, both of them are already classic examples of the many farmers in Ilocos Norte who derive a satisfactory income from their small farms. This is because Onofre and Honorio are innovators. They always seek for new information and technologies that can help improve their farm productivity and income.
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January 1st, 2009 | Tags: Entrepreneurs, Farmer, Farming, Garlic, Rice | Category: Farming, Rice | Leave a comment
The sea cucumber or candfish is a marine invertebrate with spinyskin that dwells at the bottom of coastal waters. It is a high-value export product that is in demand in Hong Kong, Korea, and Singapore.
There are 25 species of sea cucumbers that are commercially important of the 100 species found in the Philippines. In 1985, the country was the second largest exporter of sea cucumber in the world. With overfishing and degradation of the coastal environment, however, the natural populations of sea cucumbers have dwindled.
To enhance the livelihoods of coastal families and replenish depleted stocks of sea cucumbers in the wild, a project for the breeding and sea ranching of sandfish (Holuthuria scabra) has been initiated by researchers of the University of the Philippines’ Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI) in Bolinao, Pangasinan. The project is supported by the Philippine Department of Agriculture, the WorldFish Center and the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research.
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January 1st, 2009 | Tags: Candfish, Pangasinan, Sea Cucumber | Category: Aquaculture | Leave a comment
