Mechanization and hybrid rice can deliver a debilitating one-two punch that will stun farming ordeals. First punch: the use of machines contributes to precision farming and helps farmers to be more efficient in their activities. Second punch: hybrid rice increases yields by 15% resulting in higher profitability and productivity. Just like in boxing, preparation before a match is crucial. Seed production becomes critical. Hybrid seed is produced from two parents […]

Written by Joy Bartolome A Duldulao   Gem Corpuz, my creative and meticulous colleague at the Rice Chemistry and Food Science Division, came running to me one Monday morning to tell me good news. She enthusiastically started. “You know, of course, that last week we went to Ilagan City, Isabela for the consumer evaluation of upland rice entries of the NCT (National Cooperative Testing) and we stayed for three days […]

Written by Charisma Love B Gado   There are far memories worth recalling. They enkindle inspiration especially when the country is zealous in achieving its most elusive dream – to be rice-self-sufficient. Old records attest that in 1789, Pampanga exported 28,307 piculs (some 34,000 cavans) of rice with the de facto opening of Manila’s port to world trade. More recently, through Green Revolution campaign, the country attained rice self-sufficiency in […]

Written by Charisma Love B Gado   Farming for 15 years, Erlinda Jimenez has just experienced transplanting rice for the first time. As farm manager, she helps in other farm activities but leaves transplanting to hired workers as she had difficulty keeping her balance while walking around the field. After trying no-tillage, a technology of preparing the field without plowing and harrowing, she wore her best farm hat, got on […]

Written by Ella Lois T Bestil   Come planting season, forego spraying pesticides against defoliators on the first 30 days after transplanting or 40 days after sowing, advised Gertrudo Arida, PhilRice crop protection specialist. “Spraying pesticides this early will not only kill the defoliators in your rice plants, but also the natural enemies preying on pest defoliators,” Arida said. According to Arida, early spraying prevents the colonization of beneficial organisms […]

Written by Ella Lois T Bestil   Fight fungus with its kind. A recent study found that a certain fungal isolate can reduce sheath blight damage on rice. The fungus, Aspergillus sp. of an unknown species, was found to retard the growth of Rhizoctonia solani (R. solani), a pathogen or microorganism that causes sheath blight. Sheath blight is considered one of the major rice diseases causing up to 50% yield […]

Written by Chona Suner-Narvadez   “Social responsibility is everyone’s responsibility.  There’s always enough for everyone if we care to share in a responsible manner,“ so says Mr. Steven T. Cua, president of the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association Inc (PAGASA), during his talk with the members of the Philippine Tropical Wines and Spirits Cluster, an informal group of local alcoholic beverage manufacturers. Constraints Mr. Cua’s talk is the first of a […]

Written by Charisma Love B Gado   Hardworking extension workers passing through the endless fields of Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur, could easily be comforted  from work pressures by just hearing the farmers’ lively, upbeat song adopted from an Iluko composition, Bitbituen (Stars). Dagiti gagayyem nga insekto Konserbaren tay nga agnanayun Isuda’t makatulong panagpaksiat ti kabusur. Dagiti mais a dinadael Da cornborer ket stemborer Awan kuma’t pagdanagan Madadael ket masulnitan. Daytoy […]

Written by Charisma Love B Gado   Farmers in the Ilocos region are assured of the effectiveness of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as these are being adopted by extension workers in their own backyards. “I first tried a kilo of VAM (vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae) in the tomatoes planted in my backyard garden before I facilitated the Farmers Field School (FFS) on IPM in our town,” Clemente Viernes, extension worker […]

Written by Charisma Love B Gado   Their story is far from the mythical phoenix that reaching about 1,000 years, it builds itself a nest of twigs, then burn with it to rise again. However, the take off of some farmer-groups in Ilocos Norte is likened to the phoenix that after some moments of dormancy, they are mounted to a potent rebirth brought by the conduct of Farmer Field School […]