The majority of the production cost incurred by Filipino farmers goes to labor, making it one of the crucial factors that retard their competitiveness. For 2013-2014, our average hired labor cost was at P3.76/kg of paddy rice. In the book, Competitiveness of Philippine Rice in Asia, this amount roughly covers 30% of the P12.41 average palay production cost/kg. So much work begs to be done to pull down the labor […]

The restlessly rising fuel prices will hit the few farmers who are dependent on pumps for irrigation. They will breathe deeply, exhale slowly, and scratch their heads. They will probably forget the name of their patron saints for a while. The alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technology could help them lighten this burden. Saving on water AWD is a water-saving technology that rice farmers could adopt to reduce their use […]

Under the unforgiving heat of the lenten sun, the farmer is drenched in his sticky perspiration as he goes back and forth to the field to check if his rice crop is being dehydrated. However, because he can’t afford to lose even a cavan of his potential harvest, he’ll irrigate his field and sweat it out even if it takes more than a thousand steps to reach his field. According […]

“Yung lumilipad.” This is the typical response of the farmers to the question on the most memorable part of the recent wet season Lakbay Palay, a bi-annual field day organized by PhilRice for farmers to learn about the latest rice farming technologies. The farmers pertain to the drone sprayer demonstration conducted as part of exploring the technology for rice R&D. Along with this fascination, farmers’ curiosity was also replete of […]

Farmers across the country had benefited from the decades-long cooperation project between Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). Through the partnership among Japanese and Filipino experts, extensionists, farmers, and local government units, cold-tolerant rice varieties, labor-saving machines, and rice and rice-based technologies were developed and improved. Working together From 1992 to 2010, JICA dispatched 70 experts led by Drs. Hitoshi Takahashi, Norio Nakaya, Moriyuki Shigyo, and […]

As they say, prevention is better than cure. Researchers at Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) are studying the impact of the emergence of the world’s worst weed in irrigated lowland rice production. Cyperus rotundus L. or purple nutsedge also locally called as mutha, sudsud, and barsanga, which is previously known to grow only in the upland, is now quite prevalent in the lowland. As mutha is considered the worst weed […]

Rice constitutes a huge portion of a regular diet of every Filipino. On average, a Filipino consumes 114 kilograms of rice every year. Rice, however, does not have much nutrients. It contains largely carbohydrates. To make it healthier and to help address the pressing malnutrition problem in the country, Golden Rice is being developed. According to Dr. Reynante Ordonio, PhilRice Healthier Rice Project lead, Golden Rice is a new type […]