Harvest is fast approaching. At last, Mang Juan will be reaping the reward of more than three months of caring for his rice plants. He’s not only excited for harvest, but also for the rice straw, locally known as dayami, that he will get. This will give him more income as fertilizer and as growing medium for his mushrooms. Evelyn F. Javier, supervising science research specialist of Agronomy, Soil, and […]

Golden apple snails or kuhol as farmer’s friend? It’s a resounding “yes” when managing rice bugs! Kuhol (Pomacea canaliculata Lamarck) is considered as one of the notorious pests in the Philippine ricefields. It consumes young seedlings, even devouring a whole paddy overnight. In every square meter, a small kuhol measuring 2-3cm can reduce the number of tillers by up to 19% at 30 days after crop establishment. The loss may […]

We always get excited for new stuff; however, if it’s a new pest, we worry as it can reduce  37% of rice yield and sometimes, more. This is why PhilRice researchers are studying the characteristics and management of the rice grain bug (RGB), an emerging pest of rice. Getting to know RGB RGB (Paraeucosmetus pallicornis Dallas), also known as seed bug, was originally a legume pest. It was first observed […]

Some experts maintain that targeting a national average rice yield level of 6t/ha is too much for achieving self-sufficiency and that 4.5t/ha would be enough. This might be true if the country is only interested in achieving self-sufficiency per se, disregarding competition from imported rice. But in the context of ASEAN economic integration, we must produce rice at a competitive price so that we will be able to profitably sell […]

Juanito, 60, owns a 1-hectare rice field that he has been tilling for half of his life. One morning, somebody asks, “Did you know that rice farming will never be the same once we open our country to trade liberalization?” Confused, Juanito drops his jaw, scratches his head, and walks away wondering. When nothing comes to mind, he shrugs the idea off. For farmers like Juanito, caring about their farms […]

In traditional farming, the carabao has to walk 60-80 km to plow a hectare. The patient beast faithfully does this for the rice to grow healthy as a well-prepared land helps in driving away pests and diseases. The interaction between the rice and the carabao is quite knitted that when in human forms, they could have easily poke each other – a playful gesture between friends. So it’s not a […]

Working on a prosperous new year need not be strenuous. For rice farming, gaining abundant harvest and more income may start through a fun tour, easy reading, or clicking on the mouse. So, rev up the year with new knowledge for prosperity! Check out the most convenient and most practical way of learning new knowledge about rice farming: 1. Join Palay-Aralan Palay-Aralan provides a venue for farmers, rice farm owners, […]

No longer we are spared from irking events during tropical storms: immobile automobile stuck in the urban traffic jam and soaked socks of exhausted employees on their way home. What we don’t easily realize is that aside from these microcosm annoyances, the food we eat, most especially rice, are equally affected by such calamities. On a macro level, storms connect common folks’ predicaments to the country’s rice security. Vis-à-vis the […]

The Iloilo City Hall is more than just an edifice housing its top officials and the important documents of the locale. If visitors will look up to see the top of its structure, they will see the bronze statue of a woman holding a bunch of harvested rice. The statue, which is called Lin-ay sang Iloilo (Lady of Iloilo), is said to symbolize Iloilo’s culture, including its abundant rice harvest. […]

“We are left with no better choice. We directly sell to traders our fresh palay right after harvest and content ourselves with the prevailing price they impose on us.” Edwin De Guzman, a farmer in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, expresses this sentiment that many others share. According to Alice Mataia, a senior researcher of PhilRice, the rice farmers’ role in the current rice value chain starts and ends with the production […]