TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The city government here wants farmers to earn more by improving their rice production through the hybrid rice varieties which the local government unit ( LGU) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are pushing starting this planting season.
An aggressive effort is being done by the City Agriculture Office (CAO) to better the rice production sector by extending help, which made the city a Hall of Famer in the Agri-Pinoy Rice Achievers award from 2011 to 2013.
Julibert Aquino, assistant city agriculturist, said they are encouraging the farmers to shift to planting the hybrid rice variety, which has higher yield than the inbreed, which is presently being planted in higher quantity. Tabukeños prefer the inbreed, he said, because it tastes better.The downside, however, is the higher selling price because the rice recovery is lower.
By the numbers
In a one hectare rice farm area planted with 5,000 seeds of the hybrid variety, the yield is 200 cavans of palay compared. When planted with the same number of seedlings of inbreed, the production is only 150 cavans.
Aquino said the May and November harvest seasons in 2014 have good yield with the inbreed rice giving 6.5 metric tons and the hybrid rice, 8.25 metric tons.
These numbers are better but he said that the city hopes to further improve the city’s production and also increase the farmer’s income from hybrid rice.
Farmers will surely have higher yield and better income with the hybrid producing 25 percent more than the produce of the inbreed, he said.
“Malaki ang kalamangan at kikitain ng mga magsasaka kung hybrid rice ang kanilang itatanim kumpara sa inbreed. Sa isang ektakyang bukid kapag itinanim mo ang 5,000 seeds na hybrid ay mahigit sa 200 cavan ng palay ang maaani,samantalang sa inbreed ay 150 kaban ng palay lamang ang maaani, kaya malaki ang deperensya at kung sa quality ay pareho lamang.” ( More can be harvested by rice farmers from hybrid rice variety which produces 200 cavans of rice grains from 500 rice seeds planted while the inbreed variety only gives 150 cavans – a big difference in quantity.)
Tasty hybrid
He said, there is a hybrid rice variety which now has the same quality and taste as the inbreed variety.
Kalinga is known for the “Tabuk” rice – a variety which is extraordinarily tasty compared with any other rice varieties whether local or imported, a trademark which this city continues to produce up to the present.
Whether inbreed or the tabuk rice, both are more expensive than other rice varieties, which the CAO is attempting to address – by producing the hybrid rice which has the same quality as the inbreed but lower in cost and produces more rice per hectare.
Inbreed variety has five kinds, with the most expensive being the NSICRC-218 or what is being referred to as the double diamond. “This is the one which is highly demanded by traders but we also want the farmers to earn more while we help attain the rice sufficiency requirement of the country,” Aquino said.
For a higher yield
Tabuk City is the rice granary of the Cordillera. There is a total of 10,417 hectares of irrigated rice farms; 1,350 hectares of non-irrigated farms; and 1,089 hectares located at the upland areas devoted for organic rice production.
The primary source of income of the residents is rice farming with a total of 7,120 farmers engaging in the activity. There are 31 barangay which are into rice production while the remaining 11 barangay are devoted for the production of other agricultural products like livestock.
Aquino said the DA’s program on High Yielding Technology Adoption is a big boost to the farmers in the city.
At present, a partnership between the city and the DA involving a 200 hectare demo rice farm planted with hybrid rice seedlings which will be distributed for planting in five hectares each of farmers, to attain the goal of increasing yield and income
The partnership, allows them to shoulder half of the P7,500 accompanied with two bags of fertilizer which farmers spend to start a hybrid rice production. The sharing scheme is to allow the partnership to have remaining fund which will be used for the next planting season, which other farmers can avail of – thereby increasing the number of farmers planting the hybrid rice.
Aquino reported that as programs and interventions are being done to improve commercial rice production, Aquino reported that Tabuk’s organic rice production in the upland areas also increased.
The “Unoy” is one of the most expensive native organic rice in the Cordillera, with most of the yield intended for personal consumption of the family, making it difficult to find in the market.
Unoy is being sold at a minimum of P80 a kilo in the local market if found while there are also some who collate it with the DA’s colored and organic rice production which are exported abroad.