Pagsasaka sa Bayan ni Juan

The High Cost of Planting Rice

2008-08-09T10:17:00.000-07:00

In this article of Inquirer.net explains why...

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080419-131335/Planting-rice-never-fun-ask-Mang-Piring

Planting rice never fun, ask Mang Piring
By Anselmo Roque
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:41:00 04/19/2008

SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ, Philippines--Farmers produce rice with sweat, sacrifice--and loans.

The whole enterprise is a gamble, with nature and a number of other factors coming into play.

Apart from the farmers, millers and traders are likewise vital in the journey of the precious grain from the fields to the dinner tables.

Their stories may help explain to Filipino consumers why the price of rice is soaring these days.

Mang Piring, 58, has been tilling his one-hectare farm in Villa Cuizon for more than 30 years.

Two months before last year's dry-season cropping that started in mid-December, knowing that the rice yield would be more than that in the July-October wet-season cropping, he visited a reputable seed grower's outlet and bought two 40-kilogram bags of inbred rice seeds.

The "registered" seeds cost P40 a kg, so he paid P3,200. (The other seeds commonly used by local farmers, the "certified" variety, sell for P30 a kg.)

According to rice experts, one bag is sufficient for the seedling needs of a one-hectare farm.

But Mang Piring did not want to take chances, so he bought two bags. After all, what if birds or rats feed on the seeds? What if much of the grains do not germinate?

Planting rice...

When irrigation water was released to his farm, Mang Piring contracted his neighbor, who has a hand tractor, to plow, harrow and level a portion of the farm for the seedbeds.

He waited 20-25 days for the seeds to grow, ensuring that the seedlings had enough fertilizer and water and were protected against rats, birds, insects and diseases.

Then he prepared the planting area. It was plowed thrice using the hand tractor at one-week intervals, and then harrowed and leveled.

"Dukit"--or the plowing of planting areas near the small dikes that could not be reached by the hand tractor--was done with the use of a carabao and a plow.

As these activities were completed, Mang Piring cleaned and fortified the dikes, making sure that no irrigation water would seep through and that no rats would be able to burrow their way inside.

...Is never fun

When everything was ready, Mang Piring called the "mambubunot ng punla" to uproot, bundle and then distribute the seedlings in the various planting areas.

Early the next day, 25 contracted "manananim" started transplanting rice in the farm.

Mang Piring heaved a sigh of relief when the rice planters left. Half of his work was done.

But the next half was no less arduous.

It included controlling the golden apple snails (kuhol) in the paddies, applying fertilizers, alternately irrigating and draining the field, weeding, and installing traps or baiting stations to control the rats.

Add to that pest management, inspection of the plants' leaves and other parts for possible pest and disease infection, and continuous grass and weed control.

With all these activities done, Mang Piring looked forward to the fruit of his labors.

Good harvest

It was a relatively good harvest of 120 50-kg cavans after the threshing.

But Mang Piring now had to distribute the crop to all the others who worked to produce it: For the harvester, eight cavans; the thresher, 10; the two helpers who put the grains in the sacks, one; and the informal lender who loaned P5,000, 15 (three for every P1,000).

He set aside 15 cavans for home consumption and emergency needs.

Mang Piring sold the remaining 71 cavans at P800 each--the previous buying price was P500--and he had a gross income of P56,800.

Still, he had to consider his expenses: For land preparation, P3,500; pulling, bundling and distribution of seedlings, P2,500; transplanting, P2,500; fertilizers, P8,000; irrigation service, P1,500; replanting and pulling of weeds, P700; snacks of transplanters and laborers, P300; dukit, P300; sacks, P960; and "kariada" (hauling sacks of palay from the field to the roadside), P1,110.

Mang Piring's total expenses reached P21,370, leaving him with a net income of P35,430.

It was, he said, better than the P15,000 he earned in the last wet cropping season.

Miller's story

But it's not all business for the rice millers, as they also have to contend with various expenses that eventually drive up the price of rice in the market.

Take it from Edgardo Alfonso, owner of the Agrinet Grains, one of the 22 rice mills in San Jose City.

"We rice mill owners are palay buyers, millers, and sellers of milled rice rolled into one," said Alfonso, who is vice president of the San Jose City Rice Millers Association. "While at times we end up with a relatively good income, we are often hit by forces beyond our control."

This was how he explained his operation:

Alfonso's agent goes out to look for palay and offers the "kalakaran" (prevailing price) to the farmer.

When the deal is forged at, say, P17 per kg, the farmer is paid in cash right in his farm, and Alfonso subsequently sends a cargo truck and men to transport the palay to his warehouse.

But the buying price of palay is given added value because of the expenses entailed in transporting and milling, including the agent's fee of 10 centavos per kg, transportation and labor at 20 centavos per kg, and drying at P9 per cavan.

There is "shrinkage" of an average 13 percent so that at day's end of drying the palay, a cavan of 50 kg becomes 43.5 kg.

"All told at this stage, the cost of palay bought at P17 per kg becomes P20.09," Alfonso said.

64-percent recovery

When palay is milled, it is not a 1:1 conversion, meaning a kg of palay when milled will not yield a kg of rice, Alfonso explained.

"The milling recovery is 64 percent," he said. "One 50-kg cavan of palay will yield 32 kg of milled rice."

There are also byproducts and wastes in milling.

The byproducts are darak (bran) and binlid, (brewers' rice), which total 5 kg. The wastes are ipa (rice hull) and some impurities (seeds, grass, grains of sand) with a total weight of 13 kg.

"Putting together the expenses from the purchase of the palay and milling it, a kg of rice has a breakeven price of P31.39," Alfonso said. "The proceeds from the sale of the bran and brewers' rice take care of the expenses for milling and purchase of sacks."

According to Alfonso, he would be lucky if his milled rice is bought at P32.50 a kg by his outlets in Metro Manila, which buy in wholesale.

Markups

"They don't make their usual order of truckloads of rice from us. They say consumers are looking for cheaper rice," he said.

From the wholesaler, the milled rice goes to the retailer with a P1 markup. "So the rice becomes P33.50 a kg," Alfonso said.

From the retailer, the rice is offered to the public. The retailer is considered lucky if he sells five cavans of rice in a day.

If the rice is sold with a P2 markup per kg (P35.50), the retailer earns P100 per cavan. Assuming he sells five cavans of rice, he earns P500 in a day.

Alfonso said his business was virtually at a standstill.

He said he had no more funds to continue buying palay, and rice milling had slowed down "because we are not getting orders from our usual customers."

"If only there is high demand for commercial rice from us, our capital can be rolled on to buy more palay for our continuous milling until the next harvest season," he said.

The province of Nueva Ecija is the country's biggest rice producer, and is often called "the Rice Bowl of the Philippines."

In 2007, Nueva Ecija produced 1.36 million metric tons of palay, making it the top producer among provinces for that cropping year.

It produced 1.14 million MT and 1.23 million MT of palay in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

Corn Production Guide

2008-08-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

Corn is second to rice as the most important crops in the Philippines. In spite of the fact that almost 3 million hectares are devoted to the cultivation of this crop annually, current production is not enough to meet the local needs due to low yield. In fact, since five years ago, corn importation of the Philippines has been on the increasing trend.

Among the major factors responsible for low yield are the use of low yielding varieties and inadequate cultural management particularly in the area of fertilization, planting density, insect, diseases and weed control, etc.

This production guide presents the consolidated technologies designed to overcome the above mentioned problems which were based on the results of various trials conducted under the corn high impact project funded by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR). It provides a simple but practical guide on adequate cultural management practices of corn for the Arakan Valley and in areas with similar growing conditions. It is hope that agricultural extension workers and farmers will find this guide useful and hopefully, the utilization of this technologies would considerably increase the current average yield of corn.

Following are the basic steps to successful corn production:

Cultural Management Practices

Land Preparation

Prepare the land thoroughly by plowing twice, each plowing followed by one harrowing. Thorough land preparation minimizes growth of weeds, enhances water retention and ensures good germination of seeds and growth of seedlings.

Other Land Preparation Technology Options

Minimum Tillage Practices

- Slash tall grasses and corn stover or harrow using animal-drawn harrow
- Make furrow at recommended distance (65-70cm) using animal-drawn plow
- Apply 50% of N requirement plus all P and K requirement depending on soil analysis
- Plant seeds at a distance of 20-25 cm at the rate of 1 seed/hill
- Spray power herbicide at the rate of 6-8 li/ha after planting
- Side dress the remaining N fertilizer (urea) by target method 25-30 DAP

Zero Tillage Practice

- Slash tall grasses and corn stover or harrow using animal-drawn harrow
- Plant seeds using dibble method (todak or tagad).
- Apply basal fertilizer by todak or tagad method also (todak for fertilizer to be made side by side with the todak for seed)
- Spray round-up at the rate of 4-6 li/ha mixed with herbadox at the rate 2 li/ha and atrazine at 1 kg/ha (CP) after planting.
- Side dress the remaining N fertilizer (urea) by target method 25-30 DAP

Furrowing

After the last harrowing and when there is adequate moisture, lay-out furrows at 65 cm apart at a depth of approximately 8 cm.

Basal Fertilizer Application

- Right after furrowing, apply the fertilizers along the furrows:
For yellow hybrids: 375 kg 16-20-0/ha + 50 kg 46-0-0/ha
For white hybrids and OPVs: 300 kg 16-20-0/ha

- Cover the fertilizer with thin layer of soil before sowing the seeds.

Other Fertilizer Options

Bio-N fertilizer

Bio-N can substitute approximately 50% of the N requirement of corn plants. However, it was shown that it did not improved yield of corn in acid soils

Apply 50% of the N requirement (300 kg 16-20-0 per hectare) and all of P and K requirements (amount depends on soil analysis) along the furrows and cover with thin layer of soil.

Moisten seeds with water. Thoroughly mix Bio-N with moistened corn seeds at the rate of 200 g Bio-N per 3 kg of seeds.

Sow the seeds while still moist. Bio-N may be rendered unviable by prolong drying.

Mycovam Fertilizer

- Mycovam is capable of substituting more or less 50% of the P requirement of corn plants
- Apply 50% of P and N requirement (150 kg 16-20-0 per hectare and 1 bag 45-0-0) of the crop and cover with a thin layer of soil.
- Spread mykovam in the furrows at the rate of 20 g (1 pack) per linear meter. Sow the seeds and cover with thin layer of soil.

Use of Organic Fertilizer

Apply SCDC fertilizer and 16-20-0 at the rate of 12 bags and 2 bags; respectively per hectare. Cover the fertilizer with soil. Sow the seeds and cover with soil.

Integration of 50% Inorganic Fertilizer and 50% Organic Fertilizer
- Apply 50% of the recommended rate of organic fertilizer (6 bags SCDC fertilizer) and 4 bags of 16-20-0/ha along the furrows
- Cover fertilizer with soil before sowing the seeds

Planting

- Sow 1 seed per hill using the following distances:

For yellow hybrids: 20-25 cm between hills
For white hybrids and OPV: 25-30 cm between hills

Weed Control

- Do inter-row cultivation 15 days after planting (DAP) or off-barring to control weeds between the rows
- Hill-up at 30 DAP to control weeds within the rows.
- Control subsequent weed growth by hand
- weeding or with the use of post-emergence herbicide such as 2, 4-D.

Side-dressing

Apply the remaining amount nitrogen fertilizer (urea or ammonium sulfate) in narrow band 4-6 cm from the base of the plant at 25-30 DAP.

For yellow hybrids: 150 kg (3 bags) 46-0-0/ha
For white and OPV: 100 kg (2 bags) 46-0-0/ha

Other Fertilizer Options

- If Bio-N is used: No second application
- If Mycovam is used: No second application
- Integration of 50% inorganic fertilizer and 50% organic fertilizer—50 kg (1 bag) 45-0-0/ha

Pest Control

Insects
- Monitor/check the presence of whorl maggots, cutworms, etc. 2-6 DAE.
- Spray any recommended insecticides if necessary.
- Monitor/inspect the presence of corn borer egg masses 20-30 DAP.
- If necessary apply furadan 3g directly at the whorl.
- Practice integrated pest management like the release of 100 trichocards (trichograma egg parasite) against corn borer and ear worm at 25-40 DAP
- At 45-53 DAP monitor and spray any recommended insecticide if necessary to control corn borer (2x if needed) 1st spraying 10-20% flowering then follow-up 80-100% flowering.
- Detasseling 75% of the corn plants may be done to reduce incidence of corn borer.

Disease Control

- A day before planting treat the seeds with Apron 35 SD at the rate of 0.70g-1.0 gram/kg of seeds or Ridomil at 5 g/kg of seeds. This will provide a season control against downy mildew.
- Use resistant varieties to bacterial stalk rot, diplodia ear rot, stalk rot and leaf blight.
- Practice crop rotation to avoid Diplodia ear rot damage.

Harvesting

Corn is ready for harvesting when black layer developed at the grains point of attachment to cob; kernels are glazed, leaves and husks are dry.

- Shell corn ears manually or with the use of mechanical sheller.

- Dry grain to 14% moisture content

Storage

- Store in clean and dry area free from insects, rodents, and other storage pests.

References:

Labios, RV., HC. Nicor, WB. Malacad, JA. Lumbao, R. Alera, E. Arana, M. bao, C. bangoy, N. Butardo, FP. Nicor, C. Pomares, C. Pasion. 2002. Enhancing adaptation and utilization of location specifi corn-based technolofies in Arakan, Cotabato. UPLB, USM, DA-CEMIARC, DA-BR, DA-PGU, and DA-LGU.

Oliva, LP. 1997. On-farm research and outreach program in major corn growing areas of Southern Philippines. Vols. I & II. Terminal Report. USM, DA-BAR and PCARRD.

CARRDEC Techno-Series, May 2005

Pamplona, PP and M.E. Garcia. (Undated) Techno guide to Durian Production. 78p.PCARRD. 2001.

The Philippines Recommends for Durian. PCARRD, Los Baños, Laguna.

For more Information: Please Contact:

Leonila M. Tolentino
Team Leader, Content Build-up USM-OPAPA

How to Grow Corn?

2008-08-06T06:49:00.000-07:00

What are the soil and climatic requirements in growing corn?

Corn production is best suited in well drained soil with a texture of silt loam. The soil should have high moisture holding capacity and high amount of organic matter. The optimum soil pH for corn production is from 6.0 to 7.0. When soil pH is less than 5.5, many nutritional and growth problems begin to develop. Soil acidity problems may be corrected by adding lime to the soil.

Corn requires a rainfall of not less than 200 mm. Irrigation should be provided in time of moisture deficiency.

How to select site and do land preparation?

Corn is planted in a site with full sun and well-drained soil. Plow the field two weeks before planting to induce decomposition of weeds.

Prepare the field by using a garden forch or tiller to loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches, then mix a 2” to 4” layer of compost ar aged manure. Immediately before planting, make furrows 75 cm apart and at least 6 cm deep.

What kind of fertilizer is needed?

Apply the recommended rate of basal fertilizer on the furrows and cover thinly with soil. A typical fertilization rate, if fertilizer source is urely inorganic would be 120 – 90 -90 which would mean about 13 bags of complete (14 -14 -14) and 1.3 bags of urea (46 – 0 – 0) per hectare.

How to plant corn seeds?

Plant seeds by hand or by using jabber planters (one seed/hill). the seeds can be planted at a distance of 16 cm corresponding to about 80,000 plants/hectare. This would mean about 1 and ¼ bags seeds per hectare. Corn seeds are planted in blocks at least 4 rows with 2 to 4 feet between rows, sowing the seeds 1 ½ to 2 inches deep and 6 to 8 inches apart.

When is the best time to irrigate?

Corn is usually planted rain fed condition. However, it could also be produced in rice paddies after the wet season. In such case, the field should be irrigated at planting time to ensure germination and seedling establishment. Flush irrigate (3 to 4 times) during critical production periods to ensure optimum yield. Provide at least 1 inch of water a week.

How is shallow cultivation and weed control done?

Two weeks after planting, shallow cultivation is needed. Frequent shallow cultivation is needed until the plants are knee high to control weeds. This can be done using either a tractor or animal drawn cultivator. Spot weeding between furrows should be done when necessary.

When is the right time to harvest corn?

Corn is ready for harvesting when a black layer develop at grains' point of attachment to cob, kernels are glazes, and leaves and husks are dry.

Harvest at the appropriate stage depending on the maturity of your variety of hybrid 90-95 days for early and 105 -110 days for full season.

After harvest, promptly dry the ears top 18% moisture content for efficient shelling. This can be done through sun drying for 2 - 3 days or mechanical drying for 6 – 8 hours.

How to Control Black Sigatoka (Banana Leaf Spot)

2008-08-05T12:17:00.000-07:00

Fruits: Banana

Black Leaf Streak or Black Sigatoka was first recognized in Fiji in 1963. Since then, it has been found elsewhere and has steadily replaced yellow sigatoka in banana producing countries.

The disease is caused by a fungus, Mycosphaerrella fijiensis and is considered to be more virulent than yellow sigatoka.

When both diseases are present, black sigatoka predominates. Saba or Cardaba is resistant while Lakatan, Latundan, Bungulan, and Señorita are susceptible cultivars.

Transmission

When the conidia are released, they are disseminated by water while the ascopores are discharged during wet periods and dispersed by wind. The unfurling leaf and the first open are initially infected.

Under a crowded canopy and humid condition, the conidia can rapidly spread the disease on a susceptible variety.

Symptoms

• Initially, tiny brown streaks appear on the underside of the third and fourth leaves.

• After the streak stage, spots develop in a similar way as in yellow sigatoka.

• Streaks elongate into reddish-brown that later become dark brown or black.

• Dense aggregation of the black streaks may form and when these areas become water-soaked, the leaf turns black, dries up rapidly, and becomes brown.

Cultivar Reaction

All commercially grown varieties such as Cavendish, Grand Maine, Lakatan, Latundan, Bungulan, Saba or Cardaba, and Señorita are susceptible to this disease.

Control Measures

1. When planting bananas, you should consider the recommended population per unit area to avoid overlapping of leaf canopy that would create favorable microclimate for disease development.

2. Remove infected leaves to prevent faster spread of the disease. Cut the whole leaf when 75% of the entire leaf is spotted. If, infection is 50% or less, the leaf must be trimmed to remove spotted areas. However, deleafing should not be overdone.

3. Provide drainage canals to avoid waterlogging that triggers high humidity favorable for disease development.

4. Maintain proper plant nutrition.

5. Institute a planned chemical control program. For small farmers, apply fungicidal spray at the rate of 100 L/ha with either Dithane M-45 at 35 g/L, Daconil at 2 g/L, or Benlate at 1-2 g/L water at an interval of 14-21 days. Proper and adequate shaking of the spray solution must be maintained to avoid phytotoxicity on banana leaves and fruits.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Biley E. Temanel
Isabela State University
0921-475-3011

Organic agricultural products? No such thing, says PhilRice consultant

2008-08-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

Contrary to the claims of some sectors, there are no such things as organic rice, organic vegetable and organic fruit, according to a senior consultant of PhilRice [Philippine Rice Research Institute] who served earlier as a professor at UP Los Banos and a scientist at IRRI [International Rice Research Institute].

Dr. Cezar P. Mamaril said that what some sectors claim as organic agricultural products were actually produced with the sole application of organic materials made into fertilizer. Inorganic fertilizers and pesticides were not applied. However, this does not justify them to claim that their products are organic rice, organic vegetable or organic fruit.

Mamaril said that the sole application of organic fertilizer to a particular crop would not result in the production of an organic product like rice, fruit and vegetable because the plants did not absorb the organic materials for their growth and development.

In the strictest sense, he said, there are no such things as organic rice, organic vegetable and organic fruit if you use soil as a medium of growth. This is because the soil itself is composed of inorganic minerals, called essential elements, which are released by soil parent materials during the weathering process.

The essential elements are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron, molybdenum, and chlorine. These are called essential elements because they are all important for the normal growth of plants such that the absence or inadequate amount of one would result in an abnormal growth of plants.

Mamaril pointed out that in their pure and unadulterated form, organic fertilizers must still undergo mineralization into inorganic ions before their nutrients could be absorbed by the plants. This is because the organic molecules in the organic fertilizer are too large and, hence, could not be absorbed by plants.

For instance, nitrogen in organic fertilizers is still in its organic molecule form. Before it can be absorbed by plants, it must be mineralized or broken down into ammonium or nitrate ions, which are similar to those present in inorganic fertilizers.

The book Hunger Signs in Plants, which was edited by Howard B. Sprague, states thus: "Plant roots take up nitrogen in the form of ammonium and nitrate ions in soil water. Inside the [plant] cells these ions are converted into amino acids, of which there is a larger number. The amino acids are recombined to form proteins."

Ammonium is the dominant inorganic ion under flooded or fully anaerobic condition, while nitrate is the dominant inorganic ion under aerobic or upland condition, according to Mamaril.

In like manner, once phosphorus is mineralized it becomes hydrogen phosphate and dihydrogen phosphate, which the plant can absorb. According to Sprague, phosphates are also parts of certain amino acids that form phosphate-bearing proteins.

Mamaril said soils contain an average five percent soil organic matter like humus; the rest are minerals that exist as inorganic ions. The basic organic molecule contains carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen to which all other nutrients are attached.

Overall, it would be very difficult to justify that the product of plants applied with organic fertilizer is organic rice, organic vegetable or organic fruit when grown in the soil, which in itself is inorganic.

Rather than call it as organic rice, organic vegetable or organic fruit, "it is more truthful to claim that the product is pesticide-free and still sell it at a higher price than those applied with pesticides," asserts Mamaril.

Protect Rice Seedlings Against Golden Kuhol

2008-08-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Beware of golden kuhol (Pomacea canaliculata) after planting rice as this voracious pest can devour a whole paddy overnight.

According to Tony Martin of the PhilRice Crop Protection Division, yield loss owing to golden kuhol can be massive but variable.

In the Philippines, losses range from 5% to 100% depending on locality and the level of infestation. Yield loss is also related to the density and size of the snails. A single snail can eat 7 to 24 rice seedlings a day.

The golden kuhol, which came from South America, was introduced in Taiwan as food. It became an aquarium pet and was used to clean fish tanks as it feeds on aquarium scum. The snails multiplied rapidly and began to escape in waterways. The golden kuhol later spread to Indonesia, Thailand Cambodia, Hong Kong, southern China, Japan, and the Philippines.

The golden kuhol was introduced in the Philippines between 1982 and 1984. Its high nutritive value as food for humans and farm animals generated interest among both public and private sectors. A few years after its introduction, however, it became a major pest of rice.

In a book chapter written by Matthias Halwart in the "Global Advances in the Ecology and Management of Golden Apple Snails", he said the golden kuhol directly affects the livelihood of Asian farmers by infesting and damaging over half of the rice fields in the Asian region.

According to Halwart, the golden kuhol is most destructive when the length of the shell is from 10mm (size of a corn seed) to 40mm (size of a pingpong ball). This is the stage when they need the large amounts of food for their growth and survival.

Dr. Ravindra Joshi, PhilRice crop protection expert, said rice fields are an ideal habitat for golden kuhol as these depend mainly on the rice plants as food source. The golden kuhol feeds on young succulent plants such as newly transplanted rice seedlings and emerging tillers as well as weeds during the night and at dawn, he added.

Martin said farmers should integrate various management options for golden kuhol. The following are some of the recommendations:

· Before the final harrowing, destroy egg clusters and handpick golden kuhol from rice paddies in the morning and afternoon when they are most active and easy to find.

· Use plants containing toxic substances against golden kuhol such as gugo, tubing-kamisa, sambong, tuba-tuba, gabi-gabihan, tobacco, tubli, makabuhay, calamansi and red pepper is also effective in golden kuhol control.

· Put a wire or woven bamboo screen at the main irrigation water inlet and outlet to prevent the entry of hatchlings and adults and to facilitate the collection of golden kuhol.

· Molluscicides can kill non-target organisms and other beneficial organisms. Improper use of molluscicides can cause skin irritation and can damage nails, thus, it must be handled properly.

To know more about the golden kuhol, read “Global Advances in the Ecology and Management of Golden Apple Snails”, edited by Dr. Ravindra Joshi and Dr. Leocadio Sebastian, PhilRice Executive Director. The book tells about the ecology and management of golden kuhol, snail taxonomy (traditional and molecular tools), impacts on aquatic ecosystems and farmers' health, and pesticide abuse/misuse. Other topics such as the utilization of golden kuhol as a biological weeder and as means of food recipe are also included.

Farm wastes help sustain soil productivity

2008-08-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

At the rate prices of inorganic fertilizers are soaring to high heavens, farmers may as well learn to use their farm wastes such as crop residues, farm manures and weeds to sustain the productivity of their farms. For most farmers, it is now extremely difficult to use only inorganic fertilizers as prices have already reached the PPh2000 level per bag.

The use of farm wastes would certainly sustain the soil organic matter content, which is an important determinant of soil productivity, according to Dr. Cezar P. Mamaril, Philippine Rice Research Institute consultant and a retired UP Los Banos soil science professor. Image

Dr. Mamaril said soil organic matter plays three important roles – physical, chemical, and microbiological roles.

Physically, it determines the structure of the soil. When the amount of soil organic matter is relatively high, soil aggregates are formed to make the soil friable. On the other hand, if the soil organic matter content is relatively low, the soil structure could be blocky, columnar or platy, and is easily compacted. Soil organic matter also improves the water retention capacity of the soil.

Microbiologically, soil organic matter supports a varied and higher soil micro flora that promote biochemical processes in the soil and make it a living and dynamic system.

“Soil organic matter is a reservoir of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and some micronutrients that are released slowly. It helps in weathering soil minerals to release nutrients for plant use, as well as enables the soil to retain more nutrients, increases its buffering capacity, and resists change in pH. It also favors heat absorption because of its dark color, contains plant growth-promoting substances, and reduces the toxicity of organic toxins and pesticides,” Dr. Mamaril said.

However, Dr. Mamaril warns farmers to be extra careful in the use of organic materials from urban centers, as some of these might contain toxic and harmful materials like deadly microbes and heavy metals that are harmful to plants, animals, and human beings.

Unfortunately, some organic fertilizer manufacturers in urban centers simply decompose their materials for a while without using appropriate microbial organisms and then fortify their materials with urea. They sell their materials as organic fertilizer, but don’t qualify to be so.

Despite the benefits that could be derived from farm wastes, farmers still allow their crop residues and farm biomass to be wasted especially when they burn their crop residues mainly to facilitate land preparation when the turn around time for the next cropping season is short.

Studies show that a great amount of nutrients are lost when burning rice straw: nitrogen, 70%; phosphorus, 5%; potassium, 20%; magnesium, 20%; manganese, 40%; zinc, 50%; and sulfur, 50%.

Dr. Mamaril recommends that crop residues must be made into compost right in the field with the addition of some chicken manure or compost. In his rice farm in Bay, Laguna, he insists that the rice stubbles are mowed after harvest. Then the field is flooded quickly and some chicken manure is spread over the stubbles to facilitate decomposition.

Mowing also facilitates plowing and better incorporation of the crop residue, which compensate for the extra operation. Moreover, this practice minimizes pest infestation in the next crop as it prevents further development of stemborer eggs and larvae in the rice stubbles and straw of the previous crop.

On the use of animal manure, Dr. Mamaril said this should be stored for a couple of weeks to mature before applying in the field. It should be applied during the early stage of land preparation so it would react with the soil and the free ammonia could be tied up with the soil.

Drum seeding plus reduced tillage for lower production cost

2008-08-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

Farmers in irrigated rice farms may as well consider the use of a drum seeder for crop establishment and practice reduced tillage for lower production cost and improved labor productivity.

This is in a nutshell was the gist of a research paper from PhilRice [Philippine Rice Research Institute] that was adjudged the second best paper in the farm machinery and mechanization category during the recent 58th annual national convention of the Philippine Society of Agricultural Engineers at UP Los Banos. The paper was written by Dr. Manuel Jose C. Regalado, Engr. Paulino S. Ramos and Dr. Rolando T. Cruz.

The PhilRice researchers said that the continuing rise in the cost of farm labor cost is one of the major factors that should be considered in the adoption of innovative land preparation and crop establishment practices like reduced tillage and drum seeding. They added that 60 percent of the total input costs in rice production is spent for farm labor.

Traditionally, irrigated rice fields have been conventionally prepared by plowing and harrowing or puddling using implements drawn by an animal or hand tractor. However, studies by Dr. Basilio Mabbayad in the late 1960s have shown that excessive soil tillage in lowland rice fields could be reduced if weeds were controlled by herbicide spraying before planting and then complemented with good water control.

In another study Dr. Mabbayad and his co-workers found that yields from lowland rice fields subjected to reduced or minimum tillage and sprayed with herbicide before planting were comparable to those from conventionally prepared fields. They concluded that on flooded soils where weeds are predominant, the amount of labor needed in land preparation could be reduced without sacrificing yield provided effective weed control and low-cost herbicides are used.

A study that looked at alternative land preparation and planting techniques by another group of scientists noted that transplanting produced significantly higher yields than broadcasting pre-germinated seeds.

In their study, Dr. Regalado and his co-workers compared tillage methods for land preparation and planting techniques. They used two land preparation methods [conventional and reduced tillage] and two planting techniques [mechanical transplanting and drum seeding].

Conventional tillage was done in two weeks, while reduced tillage was performed in 10 days. In conventional tillage, one pass of 4-wheel tractor was made on dry field. After that irrigation water was brought into the field for wet preparation. This consisted of two passes [length-wise and cross-wise] of harrowing using a hand tractor with cage wheels and comb harrow, final harrowing, and leveling using a hand tractor-mounted ride-on leveler.

On the other hand, reduced tillage was done with two soil puddlings. First, an initial single pass of the PhilRice-improved floating tiller was made on water-soaked soil. A second double pass of the floating tiller was done before final leveling with a hand tractor-riding type leveler.

For mechanical transplanting method of crop establishment, the researchers raised 21-day old seedlings in plastic trays with soil 3 centimeters (cm) deep. The seeding rate was 40 kg/ha. The seedlings were transplanted using a 4-row mechanical transplanter. For drum seeding, pre-germinated seeds were sown directly at the rate of 40 kg/ha using a 12-row manually pulled drum seeder.

Both the transplanted and drum-seeded crops were fertilized with 147-42-42 kg nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium [NPK] per hectare in the dry season and 127-35-35 kg NPK/ha during the wet season. Nitrogen fertilizer application was based on the leaf color chart [LCC] technique wherein leaf color readings were first taken before split nitrogen fertilization was done.

Results

The average dry season grain yields of both transplanted (5,840 kg/ha) and drum-seeded (7,220 kg/ha) in thoroughly or conventionally prepared fields were significantly higher than those in reduced tillage fields (transplanted, 5,260 kg/ha; drum-seeded, 6,590 kg/ha).

The drum-seeded crops matured earlier than the transplanted crops by 13 days, resulting in significantly higher yields of drum-seeded crops during the dry season was due to the 13-day lead time in reaching maturity. Earlier maturity allowed the drum-seed crops to escape stemborer infestation, Dr. Regalado said.

On the other hand, there were no significant differences in the wet season yields of transplanted and drum-seeded crops in the conventional and reduced tillage fields. However, the yields of drum-seeded crops were numerically lower than those of the transplanted crops due to rain and strong winds in the last three weeks before harvest, resulting in the lodging of the crops.

The PhilRice researchers also found that mechanically transplanted crops in conventionally prepared fields had higher production costs (per kilogram yield) during the dry (PhP6.66/kg) and wet (PhP6.09/kg) than those in reduced tillage fields (PhP6.58/kg and PhP5.49/kg, respectively).

Similarly, the drum-seeded crops in conventionally prepared fields had higher production costs during the dry (PhP4.94/kg) and wet (PhP5.79/kg) seasons than those in reduced tillage fields (PhP4.73/kg and PhP5.20/kg, respectively).

It was also observed that rice production using through land preparation and mechanical transplanting was as efficient in the use of energy inputs as that of applying reduced tillage during the dry season. The reverse was observed during the wet season.

Likewise, although the establishment of drum-seeded crop in thoroughly prepared fields was as energy efficient during the dry season, it was more energy efficient during the wet season.

Based on their findings, Dr. Regalado and his co-workers concluded that the number of tillage operations could be reduced to decrease the unit production cost by 10-12 percent without reduction in yield, labor productivity, and energy efficiency.

Moreover, they said that drum seeding with either conventional land preparation or reduced tillage would be the better option to improve labor productivity in irrigated lowland rice farms in the Philippines to a level that can surpass the high farm labor productivity in the highly mechanized production system.

They added that the labor productivity and energy efficiency obtained in the study may still be improved by further mechanizing the harvesting operation.

How to Control Fruitflies in Ampalaya

2008-07-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

Fruitfly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett), is the most damaging insect pest of ampalaya causing 17% damage on fruits during WS 2006 in Batac, Ilocos Norte. Farmers claimed more than 50% yield loss during the dry season despite weekly spraying of chemical insecticide.

Adult Fruitfly

The fruitfly lays its eggs on young fruits which later hatch into small worms or larvae that number 10-35 individuals per fruit. They bore into the fruits and eat the flesh and young seeds.

Symptoms

Symptoms of their presence include deformed fruits that turn orange or yellow prematurely.

The fruitfly is not easy to manage because the adult is a good flyer and can travel long distances.

Damage on fruits

Larvae feeding on fruits

Management

1. Remove regularly all damaged fruits every harvesting time and bury these under the ground or decompose them in sealed plastic bags

fruits wrapped in paper

2. Wrap young fruits with old newspaper, plastic bags (ice bag), or used clothing to prevent fruitflies from laying eggs on the fruits
Source

fruits wrapped in used clothing

PhilRice and JICA, 2007. Training Guide for Vegetable Production in the Philippines. Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.

Passionate About Macapuno

2008-07-10T00:32:00.000-07:00

IF THERE IS SOMEBODY who is most passionate about developing the makapuno industry in the Philippines, it is lady scientist Erlinda Rillo, a recent retiree from the Philippine Coconut Authority research station in Guinobatan, Albay. Even after retirement she is actively pursuing her passion, particularly the propagation of makapuno planting materials that produce 100 percent makapuno fruits.

Propagation of the coconut that bears 100 percent makapuno was discovered by the late Dr. Emerita de Guzman of Los Baños in the early 1960s. Normally, the makapuno nut will not germinate but by nursing the embryo in a nutrient solution, Dr. de Guzman was able to germinate and grow the makapuno embryo which produced all-makapuno nuts. A considerable number of makapuno seedlings were produced during the time of Dr. de Guzman and a few years later but it could not be said that the technology was really commercialized.

It is Erlinda Rillo who has been passionate enough to promote the commercialization of makapuno in more recent years, improving the technique of propagation in the process.

Her interest started in 1989 after attending a coconut convention in Bangkok, Thailand. At that time she saw the many makapuno nuts from the Makapuno Island in Kanjanaburi being sold in Bangkok. The trees were propagated by the Bangkok Orchid Center using makapuno embryos from the Philippines, air-freighted to Bangkok by a Thai student in Los Baños who bought the embryos from a makapuno factory in Alaminos, Laguna. This particular information was given to us by Dr. Uthai Chanarasri, the scientist responsible for growing the embryos that came from the Philippines.

Since that trip to Thailand, it became a personal challenge for Linda to do something positive about makapuno. After all, she had trained on coconut tissue culture in England in 1984. She had also trained on tissue culture at the Colorado State University in the United States.

After her trainings on tissue culture, she had tried to ask her superiors at the PCA for her to have a research project on the propagation of 100-percent makapuno planting materials. She was routinely told, however, that there was no fund available. Makapuno production, she was told, was not a priority.

Meanwhile, her professor at the tissue culture institute in England had earlier urged her to make a proposal to GTZ, the German agency for technical cooperation, for a grant to finance a coconut tissue culture laboratory. She reluctantly made the proposal in 1986, not really expecting much to happen. In fact, she had forgotten all about it when in 1989 a private consultant of the German agency arrived in Guinobatan. He asked her what she intended to do if the GTZ would approve her proposal. Still, she was not sure that anything would materialize.

Before long, however, she was advised that the GTZ grant was approved for putting up a modern tissue culture laboratory, perhaps more sophisticated than any other such laboratory in the country. She would be spearheading the Philippine-German Coconut Tissue Culture Project, not necessarily for the production of makapuno planting materials. The project ran from 1990 to 1998 under which she trained her staff on tissue culture techniques. She has shown that coconut can be cloned using immature flowers of the ordinary variety.

Meanwhile, her desire to do something about the makapuno was always in her mind despite the fact that her superiors had routinely told her that no funds were available for that purpose. Then came STAND or Science and Technology Agenda for National Development of the Department of Science and Technology which provided a big break for her. DOST’s Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) funded a three-phased project titled "Makapuno Comprehensive Technology Development and Commercialization Program."

Of course, even before that project, she had already done her own experiments on culturing makapuno embryo. She had found that with the use of a nutrient developed at the University of London, she could propagate the 100-percent makapuno planting materials faster.

In the beginning, her pace in producing planting materials was rather slow due to limited number of embryos available. Within a few years, though, she was able to produce enough materials for an investor from Pilar, Sorsogon, to plant 10 hectares. That eventually became the main source of embryos that she cultured in the laboratory.

Soon she was able to produce more and more planting materials. In fact, one investor from Masbate made an initial purchase of 2,000 seedlings to be followed by another 2,000.

Meanwhile, because planting materials could not be shipped outside Bicol due to the cadang-cadang disease, she helped government institutions as well as private investors to set up their own laboratories and also trained their personnel on the fine points of germinating makapuno embryos in the laboratory. Such laboratories include those in Leyte, Davao City, Zamboanga, Cavite State University in Indang and in Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan. Dr. Lita Ago of Legazpi City and PhilHybrid, Inc. in Los Baños are the private entities she assisted in putting up their own laboratories.

PhilHybrid is now producing a lot of planting materials. From its makapuno farm in Batangas, it is harvesting 2,000 makapuno nuts a month, its source of embryos for propagation. Ready-to-plant seedlings are being sold at R650 a piece.

Meanwhile, Linda continues to pursue her crusade. A local government unit in Bohol is now consulting her on how to put up a laboratory for makapuno propagation. There are also other frontiers that could be tackled like producing dwarf makapuno hybrids and crossing makapuno with the sweet coconut.

(source:http:/ /www.panorama.com.ph/news.php? aid=1408)

THE LOWLY CAMOTE MORE PROFITABLE THAN YOU THINK

2008-06-27T02:41:00.001-07:00

MANILA, MAY 27, 2007 (BULLETIN) THERE could be more money-making opportunities in urban farming than you think. There are simple and very doable projects that could yield extra income for the enterprising. And some of these opportunities may be just often taken for granted.

Just like what Mrs. Soledad Agbayani was telling me one day. Mrs. Agbayani has been in agribusiness for almost 50 years, and although she has undertaken really large scale livestock and poultry projects, she has also tried many other things like fruits and vegetables, fish and rootcrops.

Would you believe when she says that the lowly camote can be a very good money-maker? She can say that with conviction because she herself has been making money from camote tops. She herself didn’t realize that it is so easy to make money from the common camote until she started bringing small bundles of camote tops to her stall at the AANI Weekend Market at the FTI Complex in Taguig City and also at her new outlet at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

She says she lets her workers harvest the camote tops on Friday afternoon who then bundle them at about 250 grams each or four bundles per kilo. In the past many weeks, she has been selling everything she brought to her stall at R10 per small bundle. That’s R40 per kilo, which is more expensive than the carabao mango she harvests from her farm in San Miguel, Bulacan. She is lucky if the trader would pay her R25 for a kilo of her newly harvested carabao mango.

She also observes that it is much easier and cheaper to produce camote tops than mango fruits. One has to spray a lot of chemicals to protect the mango fruits from pests and diseases. In the case of the camote plants, she only provides them with a lot of animal manure as fertilizer and plenty of water. There’s only one fruiting season for mango in a year. On the other hand, she says, one can harvest the camote tops practically throughout the year with proper irrigation and fertilization.

Imagine, she says, even if one will just harvest a hundred kilos a week from 2,000 square meters of camote plantation, that would mean a gross of R4,000 weekly. That would mean R208,000 in 52 weeks or one eyar.

Mrs. Agbayani’s camote tops are very tender. She just harvests a few inches of the tender tops so that not much waste will be thrown away by the customer. And that’s the reason why customers buy all what she brings to her stall. Normally, the camote tops being sold in the market are about 10 to 12 inches long. Much of that would be thrown away because the stems are not tender and not suitable for human consumption.

Camote top production can, of course, be undertaken in a relatively larger scale, say one hectare or bigger. The harvest could be distributed to several outlets in the city that are more or less accessible so the cost of distribution will not be high. One could opt for a production of 500 kilos a week. That could be distributed to subdistributors at the rate of 50 kilos per subdistributor. And even if the grower would sell to the subdistributor at just R5 per bundle of 250 grams, the 500 kilos of camote tops harvested weekly would give a gross of R10,000 to the grower. Not really a bad proposition, That could be a gross of R520,000 a year.

Of course, it is not as simple as that. One has to maintain the quality of the camote tops. They should be packed in a presentable way. Freshness should always be maintained. Maybe new preparations of the vegetable could be developed.

Maybe, the variety preferred for camote top production should be studied. There are more than a hundred accessions of camote at the Benguet State University. Perhaps, the best varieties for shoot production should be determined.

At the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center in Taiwan, they have released several years back a variety that produces tender shoots rich in vitamins. Such varieties should be acquired for commercial production here.

Camote shoot production is ideal for undertaking in the urban or peri-urban areas. That’s because the big market is right here in Manila. Try producing camote shoot for money, it could really be more profitable than you