UPLB Promotes Rice-Duck Growing Module
An innovative agricultural program from UP Los Banos is now benefiting thousands of farmers.
This is the “Agricultural Systems Cluster (ASC) Rice-Duck Model” started in 2005. The development program is being implemented by the ASC of the college of agriculture in partnership with the offices of provincial veterinarians, municipal agriculturists and farmer associations.
Today, the program involves the participation of 100 farmer co-operators in four rice-duck zones with pilot sites in Laguna, particularly in Victoria, Sta. Cruz, Siniloan and San Pablo City.
What the rice-duck model does is create a way for the mallard ducks and the rice fields to literally live together. “Traditionally, rice and ducks are raised separately, but significant gains can be realized by raising both in the same field,” says Dr. Rectorino P. Escobin, Jr., a university researcher of the ASC who won an award in the 2005 World Bank Development Marketplace Global Competition for his research.
The ducks can control the golden apple snail population, which will in turn improve rice field productivity. Duck farmers will benefit from cheaper duck feed, while rice farmers will gain from an environmentally friendly and inexpensive way to fight the destructive snails.
Aside from providing additional income for the farmers, the “duck ranger” program is environmentally friendly as the ducks act as natural control agents, and so help minimize the use of expensive and hazardous chemicals, traditionally used against pests such as insects, weeds, rats, and golden apple snail.
Dr. Escobin’s entry to the World Bank competition, “The Duck Ranger: Realizing the Multi-fold Benefits of RiceDuck Systems,” was among the 31 winners out of the 2,700 proposals submitted that year. The World Bank funds the program through a development grant as a part of the winners’ package.
The production of movable duck sheds that will house the free-ranging ducks as they move from one place to another will also facilitate this integrated farming model,” Escobin explains. “The ASC RiceDuck Model integrates 100 mallard ducks in at least one hectare of rice field. We provide support for the creation of the duck sheds of the beneficiaries, where locally available materials are used for construction. The sheds usually measure 100 square feet and are located on elevated ground to avoid flooding, as the ducks don’t like muddy sheds.”
The duck sheds have GI sheets as roofs, coco lumber as posts and frames, and used nets or bamboo for walls.
