Agriculture Business Week

PhilRice promotes new rice varieties for adverse environments.

PhilRice advances the use of newly-developed varieties for adverse environments during the Institute’s field day, which was recently participated by more than 1,500 farmers and agriculture college students.

“[Adverse environments] and climate change have direct effects on rice production. Decrease in yield is expected when sea level increases, temperature intensifies, and rainfall patterns become erratic,” said Thelma F. Padolina, head of PhilRice Plant Breeding and Biotechnology Division.

With the theme, Addressing Climate Change thru Rice Science, the field day highlighted varieties recommended for environments prone to saline, drought, and flood.

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Almost 2,000 farmers from to municipalities covering 29 barangays of Palawan recently gathered in Brgy. Inagawan, Puerto Princesa for the first Palawan-wide farmers’ field day and forum.

Inagawan is one of the sites of the Location-Specific Technology Development (LSTD) program in Palawan. The program, which aims for farmers to develop farming technologies that are best suited to their specific farming conditions, is PhilRice’s support to the national Rice Self-Sufficiency Plan.

The field day included a field tour, viewing of exhibits, ceremonial turnover of rice hull carbonizer and drumseeder, and farmers’ forum. Moreover, it featured farm demonstrations showing the modified dapog technology, use of drumseeder, biomass recycling, Palayamanan® system, nutrient management through the leaf color chart and minus-one element technique, rice seed production technique, carbonized rice hull, and the flatbed dryer.

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In recognition to his outstanding contributions in agricultural science, Dr. Caezar P. Mamaril, DA-PhilRice’s senior consultant, was conferred the 2009 Excellence Award, the highest honor given by the Philippine Federation of Professional Associations (PFPA).

Dr. Mamaril, a soil scientist, led the development and commercialization of the minus one element technique (MOET) kit offering a reliable, low-cost, and easy alternative technique for diagnosing soil nutrient status. MOET determines nutrient deficiency based on the actual performance of rice plants. This technique benefits farmers and agricultural technicians especially those in the remote areas who barely have access to soil laboratories.

Dr. Mamaril joined PhilRice in 1996 as part time agronomy and soils research consultant after retiring from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) where he worked as agronomist since 1972.

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The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) found in a study that using a mechanized harvesting, handling, and drying system in breeder seed production lessens labor and risk of seed contamination.

Led by Engr. Ricardo Orge, the researchers harvested, threshed and bagged breeder seeds in special jute sacks using mini-combine, a machine designed by PhilRice with harvesting, reaping and threshing functions. Then they transported the filled sacks to the drying area with a trailer and dried the seeds while inside the sacks.

“[In this mechanized postharvest system,] it would only take 9-10 hours from harvesting up to the time the seeds are dried to final moisture content of 12 percent. [But in the conventional method], it would take 27 hours per hectare,” says Engr. John Eric Abon who is one of the proponents of the study.

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By adopting recommended farm methods, farmers in Agbannawag, Rizal, Nueva Ecija are able to increase rice production every season.

Thanks to the Technical Cooperation Project 3 (TCP3) of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), farmers learned of recommended farm practices, resulting in significant increase in yield and income.

The project has 40 fanner-beneficiaries. They were classified either as farmer-partners (FP) or participating farmers (PF).

TCP 3 primarily aimed to compare yield and production cost of technology demonstration farms of farmer-partners (TDF-FP) with the farms of the PFs. The FPs did all the recommended methods, while the PFs were allowed to choose farm practices they would want to do.

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US Secretary Thomas James Vilsack of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney, and their delegation were briefed on how rice science can work in ensuring rice supply even in changing climatic conditions. Their visit at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on October 25 is part of the 5-day USDA Trade and Investment Mission in the Philippines.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler, and PhilRice Executive Director Ronilo Beronio and their respective staff members received the US officials.

The US officials observed rice research prospects in climate change scenarios. IRRI and PhilRice presented four major research areas for climate change that they have mapped-out. The two institutes hope to jointly scale up their progress made in climate change adaptation and mitigation for greater impact.

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1. What is golden rice?
Golden rice (GR) refers to genetically modified (GM) rice developed to produce a carotenoid called beta-carotene. This beta-carotene becomes vitamin A when processed by the body and gives the rice grain the yellow-orange or gold color, hence the name “golden” rice.

2. How important is vitamin A to the body?
Vitamin A is an essential nutrient needed to keep the body, specifically the eyes, healthy.

Lack of vitamin A, also called vitamin A deficiency (VAD), damages the immune system, therefore, increasing risk to common bacterial and viral infections and rate of mortality especially among children. The weak immune system is usually followed by poor eyesight that can lead to night blindness, which may also result in permanent, partial or total blindness if the depletion continues.

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• A total of 864 rice varieties developed and released in 78 countries.

• Average yields in rice-producing countries more than doubled.

• About 109,000 rice types collected from across the globe.

• Countless rice scientists, researchers and farmers trained.

• And many more.

Indeed, as the Los Baños-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) observes its golden anniversary this year, it can look back to the past 50 years with pride and achievement.

And, with optimism, it is confidently looking forward to a more challenging but similarly productive future as it continues to address the Herculean task of helping food a hungry world.

IRRI was established in Los Baños in 1960 following a search throughout Asia that identified the town as the most advantageous location for an agricultural research program to expand food production in the region.

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Carbonized rice hull (CRH) can be an environment-friendly alternative to wood charcoal as a carrier component in making Rhizobium inoculant, according to a study conducted by Dr. Constancio Asis Jr. and Julie Elijay of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.

The use of microbial inoculant such as Rhizobium inoculant in crop production is now being widely adopted by farmers all over the country as this has resulted in increased yield and added profit because the application of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizer is reduced by up to fifty percent.

“The atmosphere has 78 percent nitrogen but this is in inert form which is not readily available for plant use due to the triple bond connecting the two nitrogen molecules,” says Asis. At this point, he said that the use of Rhizobium inoculant can be beneficial because the bacterium Rhizobium releases nitrogenase, an enzyme that cuts the bond between nitrogen molecules, making it available to the plants. In other words, nitrogenase helps in fixing atmospheric nitrogen and converting it into ammonia, a form which is usable by plants.

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“One more, rice, please!”

That call, which rings at dinner time in all restaurants and small eateries, best sums up the eating habits of the typical Filipino to whom eating is a matter of filling up. Viand, after all, is expensive while rice is not.

Since most people can’t fill up with ulam, they fill up with rice. One-half cup of rice can furnish 82 calories of energy, enough to give someone energy to walk for 26 minutes.

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Flood is one big problem of rice farmers in Barangay Papaya in San Antonio, Nueva Ecija. The place is low-lying so when it rains heavily ricefields here are submerged for more than a week, with water depth reaching 1.5 meters.

Like other farmers in the community, 74-year-old Aquilino Sicat and his son Mario have tried flood-tolerant rice. But of all the varieties he and Mario have planted in the 2008 wet season, says Aquilino, only PSB Rc68 rice survived.

According to Dr. Nenita V. Desamero, plant breeder at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), this is because PSB Rc68 is tolerant to abiotic stresses, particularly drought and submergence. So it is no wonder that Aquilino’s crop survived after being submerged twice in 1-meter water depth for a week.
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Learning is said to be the key to almost everything, and this seems to be true also in farming.

Farmers who joined the Technical Cooperation Project 4 (TCP4) in Mindanao attest this. With the new farm technologies they learned in this technology transfer project, they were able to increase the productivity and profitability of their small farms.

One notable farmer who participated in this project of ARMM, PhilRice, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries-ARMM, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is Kalim Lamug of Brar, Maguindanao.

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PhilRice Booth :

PhilRice Books

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In separate farmers’ field days and fora conducted in Central Mindanao this September, farmers shared how they have benefited from the location-specific technology development (LSTD) program.

“Before, research studies were done only at DA-PhilRice and International Rice Research Institute. Now, we are doing research in our own barangay,” said Fred Daquil, LSTD farmer-innovator in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.

Since he started farming, Daquil normally waits for technologies from the agricultural technologist (AT) assigned in their area. Now, Daquil is directly involved in technology development.

Gilbert Romarez, development coordinator of DA-PhilRice Midsayap Experiment Station (DA-PhilRice MES) emphasized LSTD is a research approach where farmers are the main actors in technology development. This will promote technology ownership at the farmer’s level.

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