Despite the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, farmers still posted record harvests with SL super hybrid rice seeds varieties, which corresponds to 285.6 cavans or 14.3 metric tons per hectare (MT/ha) with SL-8H and 270 cavans or 13.5 MT/ha with SL-20H.
SL Agritech Corporation (SLAC), the leading producer of hybrid rice seeds and premium rice in the Philippines, said the two farmers are Ilocos Norte farmer George Pasion and Antique farmer Rehuel Almores. They both received their seeds through the Rice Resiliency Project (RRP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The RRP targets to double the government’s effort in improving the Philippines’ rice productivity and the level of food adequacy through provision of hybrid/inbred seeds and fertilizers to rice farmers nationwide.
SL-8H Variety
Given the weather condition in Ilocos Region with the highest temperature from March to June, it became the perfect opportunity for Pasion to plant the SL-8H rice seeds. This rice variety according to SLAC is resilient during the dry season and has a yield of seven to 17 MT/ha.
Pasion’s journey in making SL-8H variety his top and only choice of palay (unmilled rice) started in 2003 when he and his father harvested more than 200 cavans per hectare. This prompted him to continue planting this variety in his 3-hectare paddy fields.
“Sumubok ako ng ibang hybrids, pero hindi kasing ganda ng ani sa SL-8H (I tried using other hybrid varieties, but the quality is not good as SL-8H),” Pasion said as he proudly reported the 14.3 MT/ha of rice he harvested this last cropping season (April 2021).
SL Hybrid Rice versus Inbred Rice
Pasion has many experiences of using inbred rice from land preparation to harvesting and the process is no different at all with hybrid rice.
“Parehas lang ang araw, oras at (higit sa lahat) pagod kahit anong variety ng palay ang gagamitin,” Pasion said as he explained his routine on the farm.
He said the yield from the SL-8H variety is more than double or triple than the usual inbred varieties of palay. With his perseverance in farming, the time and money he spent are his investments that he wanted other farmers in the country to adopt—a regular income of PHP200,000 during the dry season.
He said that PHP50,000 to PHP100,000 is a small investment, as the earnings will cover all the efforts poured into farming.
Along with the many farmers in Ilocos Region, Pasion got their seeds from the DA Regional Field Office 1. However, the farmer leader in Barangay San Marcos, reminded himself and his farmer members that “we should not be dependent alone in the support coming from DA”.
“Hindi naman kailangan iasa lahat sa kanila (It is not necessary to rely everything to DA)”, Pasion explained referring to DA. “Nasa ugali ng tao ang pag-asenso (Progress depends on each individual),” he added.
The relentless efforts of Pasion in farming paved the way for his eldest child to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy. From the bulk of his earnings only during the dry season, he was able to support the studies of his children.
SL-20H Variety
On the other hand, Almores, who rented a total of four hectares of farmland, got a total harvest of 270 cavans or about 13.5 MT/ha yield (June 2020) using SL-20H, the all-weather hybrid rice developed by SLAC.
As a two-decade farmer tenant, Almores strives hard. Naturally, he seriously observes two major things in rice farming—the availability of water and the variety of palay seed that he will be using.
Variety of palay in rice farming plays the biggest role if a farmer like Almores wants to have a good return on investment (ROI). Considering most of the farm areas he rented have sufficient water supply, Almores used the SL-20H, which has a regular yield of 7 to 12 MT/ha.
With five packs or 15 kilos of SL-20H seedlings per hectare of his rented farmland during the wet season, he was able to harvest an average of 200 cavans per hectare.
The recent record showed that he harvested almost 270 cavans or 13.5 mt/ha with almost the same amount of palay seeds. In his computation, he earned about PHP90,000 per hectare in which expenses and the percentage of the land-owner were already lessened.
Almores described his record-high harvest yield of SL-20H hybrid rice as “Doble ani, doble garantiya”, which paved his way to become one of the Masaganang Ani 300 awardees of SLAC.
His comparison of SL-20H to inbred rice does not seclude the fact that the yield of harvest from SL-20H surpassed the usual harvest and yield from inbred rice.
“Malaki man ang gastos, mas malaki naman ang kita… ngunit parehas ang pagod (Even if the cost is high, the income is bigger … but same efforts),” he said as he described his years of planting SL-20H.
For the past several years of planting SL-20H, Almores did not encounter pests and insect infestations due to extensive land preparation. The harvester he is using came from the farmer association in their barangay. And with less than a decade of using SL-20H, he was able to build his own house and support his children’s education.
He sees a brighter future when he tried planting SL-8H in one of his rented farms.
“Mas okay ang SL-8H sa third cropping kasi hindi naman binabaha ang palayan ko. Kaya iyon sana mas maibigay ng Department of Agriculture na suporta sa susunod (The SL-8H is better in the third cropping because my rice field does not experience floods. So that hopefully the Department of Agriculture can provide more support next time,” he explained his trial of planting SL-8H.
Given that Antique also experiences a long dry season during half of the year, Almores wishes to receive SL-8H as he saw the bountiful yield, he could get from it.
In Partnership with DA
Nevertheless, Almores expressed his gratitude for the support of the DA through its Rice Resiliency Program.
For his part, Pasion expressed his heartfelt gratitude as one of the many beneficiaries of free seeds from the rice resiliency program of DA.
“Malaki ang pasasalamat ko sa Department of Agriculture na nabibigyan kami ng ganun (suporta) (I am thankful to the DA which provides such support),” Pasion said.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said he envisions Filipino farmers to be at par with its Asian counterparts when it comes to rice farming.
“Rest assured, that under the Duterte administration, we will continue to support farmers through the rice resiliency project, by providing them fertilizers, inbred and hybrid seeds, and technical assistance to increase their yield and income,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said as he envisions Filipino farmers to be at par with its Asian counterparts when it comes to rice farming,” he said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
