Iloilo farmers endorse use of hybrid rice and organic fertilizer
November 13, 2009 4:31 pm
ILOILO CITY, Nov. 13 – Farmers from the municipality of Barotac Nuevo are expecting a higher yield this second cropping with their shift in hybrid rice variety which they complemented with an organic fertilizer.
On Thursday, some 150 farmers from the said municipality graced the Hybrid Rice Launching and the Department of Agriculture (DA) FIELDS (Fertilizer, Irrigation, Extension, Loans, Dryers, Seeds) Cliniquing held at the town’s covered gym where they were briefed about the agency interventions and oriented on various farm inputs to help them achieve higher yield.
Dolores Batayola, one of the participants, said she is expecting an increase in yield from 230 sacks for her three-hectare farm to at least 150 sacks per hectare.
Batayola is into farming for more than five years after retiring as a school principal from the District of Barotac Nuevo.
“I am very happy with the program,” she said, adding that she looked forward to free herself from debt should her farm production for the cropping will be higher.
Aside from using a hybrid variety, she also used organic fertilizer from the Durabloom.
Batayola said she noticed a big difference on the color and on the stalks of the rice seedlings when she started to use the Durabloom product.
Another user of hybrid rice and organic fertilizer Odilon Ayco shared that before, he used inbred and certified seeds.
However, he decided to try the hybrid variety when he saw the production of their model farm in Brgy. Bongca which produces 175 to 200 sacks for every hectare.
With the certified seeds, the production is only 120 to 180 sacks for one hectare, he said.
He added although the use of hybrid rice is quite labor-intensive, still, it’s worth it.
Ayco explained that hybrid rice is more expensive when sold in the market.
“From seedbed to transplant, I am very satisfied because I have seen that the physical features of hybrid rice are different. I looked forward to produce some 170 to 200 sacks per hectare this cropping,” he said.
Ayco has a 9.5-hectare ricefarm all planted with hybrid rice.
He is also recommending the use of Durabloom organic fertilizer because aside from serving as soil neutralizer, it is also cheaper.
He shared that before, he spent some P18,000 for inorganic fertilizer. But with the Durabloom product, he only spent around P10,000.
The ricefarms of Batayola and Ayco are both included in the hybrid rice demo farm of the DA-Western Visayas covering 170 hectares in Brgy. Bongca.
They have been provided with Pioneer Hybrid 71 (PHB 71) and Mestizo 1 and 3 varieties.(PNA) LDV/ajp/PGL/vlo
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