As a rainfed rice farmer, Noel D. Galut of Ilocos Norte is concerned about water and labor scarcity in their area. These were addressed by the Multi-Purpose Seeder (MP Seeder) for direct seeding introduced to him in 2018. MP Seeder is a device attached to a hand tractor that direct-seeds rice, corn, and mungbean.
“Back then, it would take four persons hired for P300 each per day to plant half a hectare. But with the MP Seeder, I can now plant my 0.80ha by myself. Not only did it save me on labor but my seeding rate was also reduced from 90 to 60kg. To us small farmers, this is substantial,” Galut said.
He also said that his yield increased to 4.5t because of the better growing environment as the use of MP Seeder resulted in correct plant spacing and straight rows.
With Galut’s experience in direct seeding, some of his peers have emulated him.
