Farmers expressed interest in adopting mechanized direct dry seeding shown during the Farmers’ Festival in Batac City, Ilocos Norte.
One of the featured technologies was the multi-purpose seeder (MP seeder), a device attached to a hand tractor that direct-seeds rice, corn, and mungbean.
According to Engr. Richard Pungtilan, Batac City Building Officer and one of the participants, MP seeder is favored because of its seeding rate of 40-60kg/ha. The usual seeding rate practiced by farmers is 100-240kg/ha.
Compared with manual crop establishment that requires two to three farm laborers to seed a hectare, the MP seeder only requires a single operator and could finish seeding in four hours. The technology is expected to reduce rice production costs by 20-30% and to increase net returns by 20-30%, higher than manual broadcasting.
PhilRice experts also introduced fertilizer-saving technologies such as Minus-One-Element Technique (MOET) kit and app, Leaf Color Chart, and Rice Crop Manager.
