Hybrid seeds double farmers’ incomes despite El Niño
Farmers in the El Nino-hit provinces of Isabela and Cagayan were able to double their incomes and increase their yields by an average of 200 percent despite the dry spell by planting hybrid palay seeds during the dry season, agriculture officials said.
Dr. Frisco Malabanan, the director of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA), said the 68 farmer-beneficiarie s who took part in the Department’s hybrid rice technology demonstration project harvested an average of 164 cavans of palay per hectare (dry weight), which is equivalent to 8.86 metric tons per hectare (MT/ha) at 50 to 54 kilograms per cavan.
Several farmers yielded as high as 253 cav/ha or 13.68 MT/ha using various hybrids such as SL-8H, Jolly Rice, Bigante, Mestizo 1, PHB 71, and Rizalina 333, Malabanan said in his report to DA Secretary Bernie Fondevilla.
The harvests are much higher than the farmers’ usual output of 3-4 MT/ha using inbred rice varieties, Malabanan said.
“This translates into an increase in profit of at least P30,000 per hectare from only P15,000. Hybrid rice achieves greater yields and thus farmers earn more without increasing their cultivation area,” Malabanan said.
Latest figures submitted to the GMA Rice Program show that 126,645 ha were planted to hybrid rice during the 2010 dry season.
For the regular 2010 wet cropping season, the Program targets 96,888 ha to be planted to hybrid rice, Malabanan said.
As a recovery plan to offset production losses brought about by El Niño, an additional 64,170 ha target area will be planted to hybrid rice in Central Luzon, Western Visayas, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and the palay-growing provinces of
“With more hybrid rice areas and greater cooperation from LGUs and the private sector, the rice industry can look forward to achieving the palay production target of 17 million MT or more for cropping year 2010,” Malabanan said.
He said the DA aims to increase areas planted to hybrid rice to at least 600,000 to 800,000 ha in 2013.
Malabanan said the DA had encouraged the farmer-beneficiarie s from Isabela and Cagayan to use the various hybrid rice seeds available to them so they could see for themselves the benefits of cultivating superior genetic materials.
He noted that the farmers’ dry produce was bought at an average of P14.00/kg, which brought them gross profits ranging from P77,850 to P191,468 even with the presence of the El Niño weather phenomenon.
“The increase in harvest provides a positive outlook for the rice industry,” Malabanan said. “For the previous cropping seasons, the country has seen the benefits of hybrid rice, not only in increasing production but also in raising farmers’ incomes.”
Under the leadership of Sec. Fondevilla and his predecessor, Secretary Arthur Yap, the DA’s goal is not only to attain food security, but also to likewise make agriculture a more profitable venture for small farmers and fisherfolk.
Malabanan said the DA, through the GMA Rice Program, currently grants subsidy for the purchase of hybrid rice seeds and conducts technical briefings for farmers on how to optimize yields using hybrid seeds with the help of its Regional Field Units (RFUs) in collaboration with the local government units (LGUs) and the private sector.
To further promote hybrid rice, the Program, through the RFUs, National Irrigation Administration (NIA), LGUs, and private seed companies conducts technology demonstrations “to satisfy the farmers’ ‘to see is to believe’ motto when it comes to adopting new technologies,” Malabanan said.
“A techno demo never fails to impress farmers since it really shows that rice farming is profitable with the use of hybrid rice that yields much higher than the traditional or inbred rice varieties. This only shows that with all the stakeholders participating, an increase in farmer’s income and rice self-sufficiency can be achieved,” Malabanan pointed out.
Since 2001, the Program has focused its efforts on the expansion of hybrid areas. Hybrid rice yields at least 15% more produce than certified seeds (CS).
Based on reports, hybrid rice varieties have recorded a yield advantage of 33% more than those of inbred CS. The expansion of hybrid rice in fully irrigated areas will contribute to the sustained increase in the national palay production of the country, Malabanan noted.
Final estimates from the DA-Bureau of Agricultural Statistics show that area harvested to hybrid rice in 2009 reached 191,368 ha, which contributed 1,015,467 MT more to the national palay production at an average yield of 5.31 MT/ha. (DA Press Office)
