NE farmers harvest 186 cavans/hectare

Fifty-two farmers belonging to the Bagong Buhay Multi-Purpose  Cooperative (BBMPC) in Barangay Mabini in Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija are a happy lot these days, according to Henry Lim, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of SL Agritech Corp.

“I have talked with them and they were very happy because their harvest during the last dry season has increased and so with their income,” Lim said.

Their average harvest, according to a data provided by the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) rice program of the Department of Agriculture, is 186 cavans per hectare or 10.13 metric tons (MT).

Lim said Felino Garcia Jr., former BBMPC president, made a record harvest of 260 cavans per hectare in his 15-ha. SL-8H hybrid rice frarm compared to his last year’s yield per hectare of 246 cavans.

He said Florencio Sudoy, who now heads the BBMPC, harvested last dry season a total of 237 cavans per hectare compared to his 2007 rice yield in his seven-ha. land of 215. He also used the SL-8H hybrid variety produced by SL Agritech.

Chosen as a “Model Hybrid Rice Cluster” by the DA, the BBMPC members have posted an average yield of 180 cavans per hectare or 10.09 metric tons (MT) per hectare during the last dry harvest season.

Lim said the members of the BBMPC, like the other rice farm clusters in Nueva Ecija and in other provinces nationwide, have maximized their rice yield and income.

“Halos triple ang kanilang inaani at kinkita sa pamamagitan ng pagsasama-sama sa pagma-manage ng isang tanimang palay o ang tinatawag na clustering system na binubuo ng mahigit 100 hanggang 200 ektaryang lupa,” he said.

Lim said Nueva Ecija may soon become the hybrid rice capital of the country as “more and more farmers in the province are now planting SL-8H, a high-yielding rice variety and using an integrated farming scheme which has maximized their yield and income.”