Agriculture Business Week

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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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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Ronnie Pacatang is a farmer who lives in a simple hut atop a hill on his rolling land in Barangay Cebulida in Laak, Compostela Valley.Three years ago, in an attempt to improve his farm’s productivity and his income, he began to apply new farming technologies that he learned from representatives of farm input firms whom he managed to contact. For instance, he started planting seeds of hybrid vegetables because these promise higher yields and are resistant to some pests and diseases.

At the trading center in Tagum, Davao del Norte, which is only 60 kilometers away, he saw that there was a big demand for ampalaya, so he bought seeds of a hybrid variety and planted them in a 3,000-square-meter portion of his land to coconuts, bananas and yellow corn.

Unfortunately for him, he did not get even a quarter of what he had expected to earn from his new crop in the more than two seasons that he grew hybrid ampalaya. The main reason was the variety that he planted is susceptible to the dreaded pamamarako, a virus disease that adversely affects the crop’s yield. When his ampalaya vines were about a meter long, many of these began to show signs of stunted growth, and leaves near the vine shoots, which noticeably grew very slowly, were small and malformed. When the infected vines bore fruit, these were also small and malformed.

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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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Two months ago when I visited a farmer in Mindanao, he approached me asking if mixing hybrids in his field is helpful in increasing his yield. He explained that some hybrids with poor ear tip filling can benefit from the presence of other hybrids planted next to it.

In theory, mixing hybrids can increase the window of pollen availability and hence, may improve grain filling and consequently, yields. When the farmer tested this concept in his field, he was quite satisfied with the results.

Not only in Mindanao did I encounter such practice. Luzon fainters also have asked that same question to us. Some have actually tried in their own fields apparently with good results. In Pangasinan, I have observed a good number of fields with alternating rows of two different hybrids (on the basis of the appearance of the tassel), but I never bothered to check later if they got good yields or not. I am sure though that it never was a technology that showed very impressive results. Those fields had never been planted anymore with alternating rows of different hybrids.

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SL Agritech Corp. is set to export sometime this year super hybrid rice seeds to Vietnam as part of its effort to accelerate growth in its rice production.

Henry Lim, SL Agritech chairman and CEO, sealed an agreement the other week with Dai Thanh Agritech Seed Co. whereby SL Agritech will initially ship sometime this year, 60 tons of SL-8H super hybrid rice seeds to the Vietnam agricultural firm.

“Under our agreement, Dai Thanh Agritech Seed Co., a firm engaged in crop seed trading and distribution, will distribute our hybrid seeds to Vietnam. Our initial shipment to that company will be 60 tons and this will be made sometime this year. The second shipment of 300 tons will be next year and a year after, we will ship 500 tons until they reach 2,000 tons,” Lim said.

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The Philippine Root Crop Research and Training Center(PhilRootcrops for short) has gone a long way in improving the productivity as well as the taste and other qualities of the lowly camote or sweet potato.

Long before the research and training center was established in 1977. farmers used to harvest an average of eight tons of roots per hectare from their favorite varieties. Today, the yield has increased to an average of 12 to 15 tons per hectare. Of course, there are varieties that give much higher yields like VSPI which gives an average of 21.90 tons per hectare, thanks to the researchers.

In the beginning, the target of the researchers was to produce hybrids that will produce high yields, says Dr. Jose Bacusmo, the president of Visayas State University (VSU), who has been involved in the sweet potato research program from the beginning up to now. He still acts as the project leader of the research program although other staff acts as head of the center. The present head is Dr. Julieta Roa.

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Hybrid rice seeds are produced by planting male and female parental lines in rows next to each other and allowing them to cross-pollinate. These are harvested from the female plant, which are then planted for hybrid rice cultivation.

Hybrid rice seed production (HRSP) is a tedious yet rewarding endeavor. Hybrid seeds sell at a minimum of about P60 per kilogram. A one-hectare farm that produces 1,500 kg hybrid seeds will have a gross sales of P90,000 while the same field if planted with commercial rice yielding 5,000 kg will have gross sales of about P65,000 based on the current price of paddy rice. While HRSP is more costly than commercial rice planting, the returns would justify the added cost.

However, not all regions and seasons are favorable for HRSP. It is not recommended for wet season planting. So far, there are only two major provinces/regions in the Philippines identified by PhilRice suitable for HRSP- Davao Oriental in Mindanao and Kalinga in Northern Luzon. In fact, farmer-cooperatives devoted to HRSP are in these regions, notably the Davao Oriental Seed Producers Cooperative (DOSEPCO), Kalinga Hybrid Rice Seed Producers Multi-purpose Cooperative, and the Tabuk Hybrid Rice Seed Producers Multi-purpose Cooperative. These cooperatives are stories of successful implementation of HRSP.

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A 69 year-old in Buliran, Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija is surprised to harvest 345.6 cavans from a hectare planted to a hybrid rice reportedly exhibiting stunted (bansot) growth.

Severino G. Payumo became happier when he learned that because he harvested a whopping yield from the controversial SL8 hybrid rice of SL Agritech, he has been nominated to the provincial search for 10 outstanding hybrid rice farmers in Nueva Ecija for the 2008-2009 dry season.

At 50-kilogram per cavan, his yield was officially entered by the technical panel composed of representatives from SL Agritech, Department of Agriculture Regional Field Unit III (DARFU II1), PhilRice, Central Luzon State University, Provincial Agriculture Office, and Cabanatuan City Agriculture Office at 17.25 t/ha.

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“Weed” is a harsh and very condemning term that we can coin for a plant whose economic importance and value is yet to be discovered. Weed is a plant that is unwanted at a particular space and time. Such unwantedness can be traced by generalizing that it can do more harm than good under such particular condition.

These are some of the possible damages weeds can do in ricefields.
1. It reduces yield due to competition with crops for light, water, and nutrients.
2. It reduces quality of produce through adulteration.
3. It blocks irrigation and drainage-canals.
4. It interferes with cultural practices.

5. It makes harvesting difficult.
6. It harbors insect pest and pathogens that attack the rice.

In comparison with other pests, weeds do not show visible damage to rice and because of this farmers do not recognize the yield reducing effect of weeds. Some farmers often neglect their presence, and will only remove when weeds have already grown vigorously and have already produced seeds. On the other hand, some farmers are so meticulously concerned to achieve a weed-free field in the whole cropping season. Both situations are an example of improper weed management. Removal of weeds after completing their life cycle is already too late because the weeds have already established themselves in the ricefield. Maintaining absolutely weed-free fields is too costly and time and labor consuming. Both approaches will reduce – farmer’s productivity either by reduced yields or by unnecessary channeling of resources to weed control. Weeds should only be controlled only when they pose significant yield reduction.

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The government will stop granting each farmer P1,500 hybrid rice seed subsidy and reduce the certified seed subsidy from P1,200 to P600 starting this wet season. The fund for the subsidies will be used instead for construction of farm-to-market roads, dryers and other farm infrastructures.

Thelma F. Padolina, head of PhilRice Plant Breeding, said that farmers should not be discouraged by the reduction of subsidies from using hybrid seeds and certified seeds, and that they should consider their yield advantage over other seeds.

Studies show that the use of hybrid seeds and certified seeds results in 15 percent yield increase and contributes 10 percent to rice production growth, respectively. In addition, according to the study Sources of Decade Rice yield Growth in the Philippines presented during the 23rd National Rice R&D conference last March, adoption of high quality seeds was one of the major factors that contributed to yield increase from 1996 to 2007. About 15 percent and 12 percent of which are attributed to the use of certified seeds and hybrid seeds, respectively.

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Even as their farming techniques vary from each other; three farmers in Pangasinan say the same thing about the latest corn hybrid they planted- their yields from it was much higher than from the other varieties they used before.

Anselmo Dionio, 55, of Caaringayan, Laoac town said his recent yield from 3 hectares planted to Bioseed 9909 was as much as 10 tons of shelled corn per hectare. Last year, he harvested an average of 11 tons of shelled corn per hectare using the same variety. This year he also planted 1.8 hectares in Sta. Barbara in partnership with a large-scale poultry raiser, Engr. Manuel Soriano, and estimated that the yield would be also about 10 tons per hectare even as the corn ears were still being dried before shelling.

On the other hand, Edwin dc Asis, 47, of Dumayat, Binalonan planted Bioseed 9909 in 6,000 square meters. He harvested 5,026 kilograms or 8,376 kilos per hectare.

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A project on growing high-value vegetables under contoured sloping areas is being implemented in Brgy. Masunoy and Brgy. Candungaw in San Isidro, Bohol.

This is a joint project of the local government (LGU) of San Isidro, the Bureau of Soils and Water Management, East-West Seed Company and the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

According to Daisy Monreal, technology transfer technologist of East-West Seed Company, they will showcase the improved techniques of growing high-value vegetables in sloping fields that are contoured to prevent erosion of the soil.

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