Agriculture Business Week

Optimizing rice production in over 100,000 hectares(ha) planted to upland rice nationwide can significantly increase national rice production. And wise seed selection is important in achieving this goal. But the problem is upland rice varieties are scarce.

There are only more than 10 upland rice cultivars, yet there are over 70 rice strains for irrigated lowland environment, according to Dr. Edwin G. Hondrade, program director of the Pagkain Para sa Masa (PPSM) program based in University of Southern Mindanao. Given such limited strains, selection of seeds becomes more imperative.

Good thing that there are quality rice seeds in the market and there are also promising ones understudy.

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Posted on September 18th, 2009 under Rice. Tags: PhilRice, Rice, Upland. Comments: 1

A Filipino nurse in Saudi Arabia went back to San Antonio, Nueva Ecija to manage the 40-hectare farm of his in-laws. But to hi dismay, he can’t grow rice in 10 ha. during wet season due to flood.

He is Gelises Ladores of Barangay Sto. Cristo. For 19 years, he said, he doesn’t plant during wet season because when flood occurs, the fields would be submerged for as long as 15 days and the water reaches waist level.

The luck of this 52-year-old farmer started to improve only in the 2008 wet season. He learned of the flood tolerant rice Swarna-Sub1, which can survive 10 days of complete submergence at vegetative stage, matures in 130-134 days, and grows as high as 75 cm-85 cm. He even went to PhilRice’s on-farm testing of submergence rice in Barangay Papaya to learn the technology.

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Posted on September 17th, 2009 under Rice. Tags: Nueva Ecija, PhilRice, Rice, Wet Season. Comments: None

A government agency that provides technical assistance to the country’s rice farmers is out to help agribusinesses determine their social return on investment(SROI) as a measure of their true value and their socioeconomic impact on the host community.

The importance and benefits of SROI and how it is computed can also help agribusinesses determine the future site and direction of their expanding operations so-as to maximize their socioeconomic value.

This subject will be discussed comprehensively by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) through its Social and Agro-Industrial Ventures unit during the forthcoming Agrilink, Foodlink, and Aqualink, which constitute the country’s biggest and most prestigious annual international trade show on agribusiness, food and aquaculture.

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Posted on September 16th, 2009 under Events, Rice. Tags: PhilRice, Rice. Comments: None

Farmers can save an average of P2,480 per hectare (ha) on the cost of seeding with the improved drum seeder, a lightweight and hand -pulled machine developed by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) for easy and efficient dispensing of rice seeds into the field.

This was found in the study led by Ronell Malasa of the PhilRice Socioeconomics Division that was conducted in Iloilo, Mindoro Oriental, and Nueva Ecija. The saving resulted from the immense reduction of seeding rate from 113 kg/ha in broadcast seeding to only 51 kg/ha in the drum seeding. The number of tillers also increased from 11 in broadcast seeding to 16 in drum seeding.

“This [finding], says Malasa, establishes the potential of the drum seeder to contribute in increasing yield, [for] the more tillers, the higher possibility of producing grains.”

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Posted on August 16th, 2009 under Farming, Rice, Technology. Tags: Drum Seeder, Farming, PhilRice, Rice. Comments: 9

Is your farm not earning much? Try adapting the Palayamanan, a diversified forming system that the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) promotes for increased farm income and much savings on food!

Many farmers have successfully adapted it and more and more farmers are getting into it such as the Icamina couple of San Roque in Malinao, Aklan.

Couple Elwenn and Molina Icamina used to produce only rice from their one-hectare farm in which they had harvested 80 cavans. Now, having learned diversified fanning in the Palayamanan farmers’ field school that was conducted by PhilRice and the local government of Aklan in 2006, they harvest less rice but they earn much more because they have started producing other cash crops.

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Posted on July 24th, 2009 under Farming. Tags: Farming, Palayamanan, PhilRice. Comments: None

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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Posted on July 22nd, 2009 under Rice. Tags: Hybrid, PhilRice, Rice, Rice Subsidy. Comments: None

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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Posted on July 16th, 2009 under Rice. Tags: Farmer, PalayCheck, PhilRice. Comments: None

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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Posted on June 29th, 2009 under Rice. Tags: Fertilizer, MOET, PalayCheck, PhilRice. Comments: 2

Although Jun is not an accredited seed grower, he can be as good, if not better than many seed growers because of his vast experience in PhilRice. He sells his harvest of PJ7 seeds at P1,200 per bag of 40 kilograms. He derives more income from selling seeds since the commercial price of palay is only P17 a kilo.

Jun is also lucky for having his wife, Leonora, work at a branch of the Land Bank of the Philippines in Ilagan. Last year, in his third season as a full-time farmer, Jun and his wife were able to buy a foreclosed property from Land Bank for only P170,000, which came solely from his farm income. The property is 5 hectares consisting of 4.5 hectares of corn land and 0.5 hectare of coconuts. One hectare of corn land and a half hectare of rice land were also mortgaged to him at P85,000 and P80,000, respectively. At present, Jun and Leonora already have 12.5 hectares-9 hectares of corn land and 3.5 hectares of rice land.

With an increasing farm area, Jun’s income has been also commensurately increasing. Take the 4.5 hectares of foreclosed corn land that they bought. In the first season, Jun harvested 430 bags of corn grains for a total 25,800 kilograms. At P10 per kilogram, his gross income was P258,000. This alone already gave him a monthly gross income of P50,000.

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Posted on June 10th, 2009 under Farming, Rice. Tags: Farmer, Farming, PhilRice, Rice. Comments: 1

After hopping from one job to another in three private companies and finally to the branch station of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Isabela, Lorenzo “Jun” Ballesteros finally decided to concentrate on farming two years ago. And he has no regrets for he has found his own niche after losing much in his farm while he was still at PhilRice.

Jun, 44, spent six years in three private companies where he said he learned his “business sense.” He also spent eight years at PhilRice where he was a site coordinator in the hybrid rice commercialization program for a number of years. During that period, he was helping farmers in Isabela and Cagayan establish their hybrid rice farms.

The farmers whom he helped train, many of whom are college graduates, were making great strides in their farming ventures. One of them is Col. Valfry Tabian of the Philippine National Police, a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy who has become a successful rice farmer, producing certified seeds and commercial rice. Professionals from the landed class in Cagayan have also been raking a great income from rice farming.

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Posted on June 9th, 2009 under Farming, Rice. Tags: Farmer, Farming, PhilRice, Rice. Comments: 1

The Rice Engineering and Mechanization Center (REMCenter) of PhilRice designs harvesting machines that help farmers save on labor cost, increase productivity, and lessen the difficulty of farm operations.

“We design machines that save on cost and lessen drudgery in rice farming operations,” said Dr. Caesar M. Tado, director of REMCenter.

PhilRice-Briggs & Stratton mini combine, PhilRice-JICA Rotary Reaper, SG 800 Rice Stripper Harvester, LS 600 Lite Stripper, and rice cutter-harvester are among the harvesting machines developed and/ or improved by PhilRice.

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Posted on June 6th, 2009 under Farming, Rice. Tags: Harvest, Machine, PhilRice, Rice. Comments: None

The Davao Oriental Seed Producers Cooperative (DOSEPCO) have started its ricemilling venture. We learned about it from DOSEPCO chairman Henry Lim and Felix Mejos during the 22nd National Rice R&D conference at the PhilRice national headquarter in Maligaya, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija.

For purposes of efficient management, ricemilling operation will be under a sister-cooperative of DOSEPCO-the BALURIMCO or Banaybanay-Lupon Rice Mill Cooperative.

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Posted on May 31st, 2009 under Rice. Tags: DOSEPCO, PhilRice, Rice, Ricemill. Comments: None

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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Posted on May 30th, 2009 under Rice. Tags: Cagayan, PalayCheck, PhilRice, Rice. Comments: 1

Farmers in the rainfed lowland farms in the Philippines cultivating a total of 1.5 million hectares will benefit from the breeding efforts at PhilRice Midsayap as PhilRice plant breeders have already produced 10 advanced elite lines for favorable rainfed conditions. These advanced elite lines are called Raelines.

In Mindanao alone, some 231,444 hectares of rainfed lowlands are planted to rice and farmers are experiencing lots of problems like tungro infestation. In many of these rainfed farms, farmers practice asynchronous planting due to unpredictable availability of water.

The bigger issue, however, is all varieties thus far released for rainfed lowland cultivation by the former Philippine Seed Board (PSB) and now the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC) are susceptible to tungro, a very serious disease of rice. Thus, PhilRice breeders have focused their breeding efforts on the development of more adaptable rainfed varieties with tungro resistance.

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Posted on May 24th, 2009 under Rice. Tags: PhilRice, Raelines, Rice, Tungro. Comments: 1