Agriculture Business Week

One important thing that farmers must keep in mind is that the key to successful technology adoption is to determine what practices are suitable for one’s farm.

Three farmers have exemplified this commendable ability when they adopted the PalayCheck system, a dynamic integrated crop management system that the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) promotes for increased rice yield.

A farmer-cooperator in the first demonstration trial on PalayCheck in 2006, Cipriano Claur of Luttuad, Diffun, Quirino has been completely receptive to PalayCheck since it was introduced to Luttuad farmers by PhilRice. This 46-year-old farmer followed all the eight key checks of the system and increased his yield from 6.3 tons per hectare (t/ha) to 9.1 t/ha, which was a 45 percent increase in grain yield.

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With the cost of fertilizer spiraling up, meeting nutrient requirement of rice crop becomes doubly burdensome.

According to the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, a fanner spent close to P13,000 on the average in 2005-2007 dry season (DS) cropping, and 34 percent of this or P4,500 was spent on fertilizers. Many farmers, however, failed to apply the needed fertilizers due to financial constraints. While some managed to loan from banks or simply borrowed money from fellow farmers, fertilizer application was already late and affected crop performance.

For instance, nitrogen use can be_ optimized through “selection of proper fertilizer rates and sources, correct fertilizer placement, and optimum timing of applications,” according to the article “An Overview of Nutrient Management with Economic Considerations” published by the North Carolina State University. This shows that it is not enough that a farmer applies fertilizer because the amount and timing of application arc equally important.

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Pest Infestation, if not properly managed, could lead up to 30 percent loss in potential yield, according to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).

In line with this, in a study conducted at PhilRice in Agusan where the climate is either wet or very wet, a group of researchers led by agronomist Frencisco Varquez found that damage from pest results in a yield as low as 4.3 tons per hectare in an area where a highest yield of 7 tons per hectare can be achieved.

In this experiment titled “Targeting On-Farm Rice Yield for Site-Specific Nutrient Management Using the PalayCheck Minus-One Key Check,” the researchers allowed the infestation to get severe to determine the level of yield loss when no pest management practice is exercised.

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Rice farmers in the, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija who went through a PalayCheck Field School training during the 2008 wet season are optimistic that higher yields are still to come if they attain all the key checks of the newly introduced integrated rice production system.

After one season of participating in the PalayCheck Field School, Renato Gascon, Noli Domingo, and Bayani Laurencio concluded that all the eight key checks must be attained to produce the highest possible yield. They based their conclusion on the performance of the crops that were used as common learning fields during their training.

According to PhilRice scientists, PalayCheck is a dynamic crop management system that presents the best key technology and management practices as key checks. It is an integrated crop management system, which recognizes that rice growing is a production system consisting of a range of interdependent factors that are interrelated in their impact on the growth, yield, grain quality, and sustainability of the environment.

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Weather has a big impact on farming. So in order for farmers in low-lying areas with extreme weather conditions to increase their yields, they should adopt appropriate farm technologies to mitigate adverse effects of weather on the crop.

One appropriate technology is PalayCheck, and a farmer in a low-lying area obtained a high yield by adopting it. She is 48-year-old Trinidad Billote of Tagabaca, Butuan City, Agusan Del Norte.

At that time, PalayCheck was being introduced in Tagabaca through the PhilRice-JICA Technical Cooperation Project 3 (TCP 3) and she became one of its farmers-partner. As a farmer-partner, half of her 2-hecatre farm was used as a technology demonstration farm of the TCP 3.

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One year of piloting the PalayCheck System in Cagayan Valley (Region 2) has shown that indeed rice yield could be increased further by attaining its eight key checks. Jessie Fernandez of PhilRice Isabela said it was piloted in 29 sites during the 2008 dry season and 28 sites in the 2008 wet season. Each site was led by a farmer-extensionist. Farmer-cooperators in each site performed the various key checks in their pilot site. They also applied what they learned from PalayCheck Field School in their own fields.

Data provided by Fernandez showed that in all sites, the yields of the farmer extensionists were much higher than the farmer cooperators. On the whole, however, the yield during the dry season was higher than the wet season as a result of more favorable weather and more sunshine which is needed by the plants in the manufacture of food for higher yield.

Throughout the region, yields during the dry season reached an average of 6.08 tons a hectare in the fields of farmer-extensionists, while the farmer cooperators got only an average of 4.66 tons a hectare. Yields during the wet season were lower but again, the average yield of farmer-extensionists (5.27 tons a hectare) was higher than those of the farmer cooperators (4.47 tons a hectare). These mean a yield increase of 1.42 tons a hectare during the dry season and 0.79 tons a hectare during the wet season.

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Farmers who are not yet practicing integrated pest management or IPM may as well follow the innovators to enjoy the numerous benefits from it. It is a lot easier and cheaper than you think.

IPM may be defined as an agro-ecological method of sustaining the long-term benefits of rice production through the use of different techniques on managing of rice insect pests and diseases without causing any damage to the environment.

For a start, learn the interactions of the rice crop with biotic factors, the agroecosystem, and the crop management system to understand the destructive potential of pests, according to PhilRice experts. Remember that pest management is an integral component of rice production.

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Their men are so busy with their jobs and farm activities that they don’t have time to attend seminars and trainings on farming. Yet these three women from the Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija have been able to participate in spite of their jobs and responsibilities.

They are Pacita de Guzman, 46; Rufina Paulino, 51; and Gina Reyes, 43. They have trained on PalayCheck system, a holistic and objective approach to rice production that integrates recommended management practices and learning processes. They voluntarily participated in the PalayCheck Field School (PFS) in the Science City of Munoz during the 2008 wet season.

Pacita is a midwife at the Rural Health Unit ll(RHU II) in Munoz. She participated in the PFS for her husband was busy with farm activities, while Rufina, a nurse at the RHU II, attended because her brother who had been taking care of their family’s farm was so busy managing the farm.

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More and more farmers are getting interested in the PalayCheck System as they learn that the yields of the innovators have increased by following the eight key checks, which revolve on seed quality, land preparation, crop establishment, pest management, and harvest management.

Rice specialists trained by PhilRice on the PalayCheck system are now on the double training an increasing number of farmers. Research results of PhilRice specialists show that the more key checks farmers attain, the higher their yields become.

For the benefit of those who are not participating in a PalayCheck Field School (PFS), learning about the eight key checks could be of help. They are as follows:

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By adopting appropriate farm technologies, a farmer from Bohol has turned an unfavorable rainfed ricefield into a profitable farm.

He is Sergio “Serie” Isulat of Mandaug, Calape, Bohol. Unlike most farmers in their community who are traditional in their farming, this 59-year-old farmer is open to changes. Hence, from a gross harvest of 80 cavans a hectare (ha), he now harvests around 140 cavans and earns as much as P240,000 from vegetables in a season. This is because he has earned P80,000 from 0.25 ha he planted to eggplant and P160,000 from 0.5 ha he planted to ampalaya. But that’s not all. He also has earned P120,000 from the 1 ha he planted to squash the next season.

His success started in 2004 when he was chosen to promote to his fellow farmers the different rice farming technologies for rainfed farms, beginning with the Palayamanan. It’s a farming system from PhilRice in which vegetables and fruits production, animal raising, and recycling of farm materials are integrated with rice farming for increased farm income and food security.

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Peace and order may have been elusive in some parts of Mindanao for some time, and many farmers feel uncomfortable whenever the situation is unstable. In fact, they don’t want to be caught in any crossfire and, hence, they migrated to other parts of the big island where it is relatively peaceful and orderly to be able to concentrate on their farming activities.

Vicente “Enteng” G. Antonio of Brgy. Tagapua, San Francisco, and Rogelio Antalan of Brgy. Kapatungan, Trento, both in Agusan del Sur, are just two of those farmers who escaped the conflict. And they became model farmers in their newfound home.

Born in Kalibo, Aklan in 1950, Enteng was brought by his Ilocano parents to Dadiangas (now Gen. Santos City), South Cotabato in 195 L Three years later, they moved to Norallah, South Cotabato and then to Brgy. Sampao, Isulan, Cotabato (now Sultan Kudarat) because they were searching for greener pasture.

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When someone becomes a farmer without the knowledge of the new rice technology, he is almost certain that his yields and income would be miserably low. This is especially true if the new farmer has been practicing another profession in a foreign land

Such was the case of Dominador Perez of Purok Centro, Agbannawag, Rizal, Nueva Ecija. He was a mechanic for 35 years, first in the Philippines and in Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Iraq, and finally in Saudi Arabia.

Doming, now 66 years old, finished his high school education in 1959 from a trade school and specialized in automotive mechanic. Immediately after graduation, he worked as a mechanic of the Rural Transit until 1966. ‘He then worked as heavy equipment mechanic of the United States Navy in Vietnam.

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He had been an elementary and high school teacher for 39 years. And now, after retiring, 61-year-old Rolando A. Sa-Unoy of Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo is a student again. But this time in rice farming.

Sa-Onoy loves teaching, but farming is his first love. At six, he started farming with his father. He took up education because there was no agriculture-related course in Iloilo that time. But his interest in’ farming never ceased even while he was teaching that’s why when he had the chance, he borrowed money to buy farmland.

He used to visit his 4-hectare ricefield every morning before going to school to see to it that everything was fine, for he wanted to ensure a good yield. His efforts, however, were not enough for his harvests were not good.

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