HIGHER YIELD. Results of a study at a model farm in Butuan City reveal a higher yield for farmers that use hybrid rice seeds compared to inbred seeds. The Department of Agriculture in Caraga Region says it is now exploring various strategies to encourage farmers to go into rice hybrid farming to support food security in the region. (Photo courtesy of DA-13 Information Office)
BUTUAN CITY – The Department of Agriculture in the Caraga Region (DA-13) is set to release a total of PHP55 million hybrid seeds and fertilizer support to farmers in the five provinces of the region.
Set for release this month, the support to rice farmers will be in the form of 6,648 bags of hybrid seeds worth PHP33 million and 18,000 bags of fertilizers worth PHP22 million.
In a statement on Thursday, DA-Caraga said the move is in response to the positive output in terms of increased agricultural production gained by at least 40 rice farmers who participated as farmer-cooperators to the Hybrid Rice Model Farm Project that was started last year.
DA-Caraga said 40 rice farmers took part in the production of hybrid rice inside the 76-hectare model farm in Barangay Lemon, Butuan City through the effort of DA-13 together with the city government of Butuan and nine private seed companies.
Hybrid rice seeds featured and planted by the 40 rice farmers at the model farm include the M20-public hybrid, M51-Pioneer 79, M50-TH82, M78-Longping 937, M81-SL-19H, M46-Bigante Plus, Boiseeds 453, Syngenta NK5017, and Ramgo-Kimbee 58.
"Hybrid rice can grow best when there are appropriate water and fertilizer coupled with appropriate technologies,” said Marisa Garces, DA-Caraga focal person for rice program.
Garces said DA-13 is encouraging other farmers, especially those areas which are good for hybrid rice production to adopt the technology
DA-13 is currently undergoing data analysis and impact assessment of the said model farm, she said.
A clustering approach is also being done by DA-13 with the support of the city government of Butuan in the promotion of hybrid rice farming, Garces said.
She added that Caraga Region has a total of 74,580 hectares devoted to rice farming, with 2,189 hectares planted with hybrid rice for the dry cropping season from September 2019 to March 2020.
Among the rice farmers who joined the hybrid rice planting inside the model farm was Sammy Barneso, 32, a rice farmer for five years.
Barneso planted M46-Bigante Plus (hybrid rice) in one hectare and Rc300 (inbred) in another hectare and applied, based on recommendation, six bags of fertilizers for the hybrid rice and three bags for the inbred variety.
After the harvest, Barneso found a great difference in terms of output, as he only harvested 90 bags or equivalent to 5.31 metric tons by using Rc300 compared to the 134 bags or equivalent to 7.77 metric tons of harvest M46-Bigante Plus hybrid rice.
Though he incurred a production cost of PHP35,000 in a hectare for hybrid rice and PHP25,000 for inbred rice, Barneso’s production for hybrid rice earned him PHP116,000 compared to PHP90,000 from inbred rice.
In the same statement on Thursday, Rebecca Atega, the OIC-Regional Technical Director for Operations of DA-13, said that the agency is now exploring all strategies to ensure food security in the midst of challenging times.
“The model farm will encourage more farmers to try and plant hybrid rice seeds in the region," Atega said. (PNA)
