Written by the Web Team
Weather consultant of one of the country’s big media network had urged local governments to support the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in promoting its technologies to the farmers.
“I see good technologies that could help mitigate climate change while touring around the PhilRice’s experimental fields. I hope that farmers will learn more of these technologies through the local government units across the country,” Karen Cardenas, GMA Network’s editorial consultant for Science and Weather, said.
Speaking before a thousand farmers during the Institute’s Lakbay-Palay, she said that government support in PhilRice’s researches is vital in providing enough rice supply.
Cardenas said that based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, “small farmers in the Southeast Asian Region are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.”
Studies show that increasing Philippine temperature may cause more than 30 percent production losses in rice farming communities that are unable to cope with pervasive heat.
She said that climate change-related risks can be lessened through backyard tree planting and re-planting of trees in the forests and having more cooperation in providing climate change-related solutions.
Cardenas said the government may supply climate change-ready planting materials and implement more intensive information campaigns.
Meanwhile, PhilRice, together with its partners, is developing technologies and farm practices that aim to mitigate climate change.
Dr. Ricardo Orge, director of PhilRice’s Climate Change Center, said PhilRice had developed varieties for saline prone areas: NSIC Rc184 (Salinas 2), Rc186 (Salinas 3), Rc188 (Salinas 4), and Rc190 (Salinas 5). With a potential yield of about 4-6t/ha, the varieties have also good milling recovery and good eating quality.
PhilRice had also helped breed NSIC Rc194 (Submarino 1), a variety that can survive, grow, and develop even after 10 days of complete submergence at vegetative stage.
PhilRice’s first Lakbay-Palay for the year was participated by farmers from La Union, Tarlac, Pampanga, Aurora, and Bulacan. Farmers from Zambales, Bataan, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, and Isabela also toured around PhilRice during the activity.
