NE eyes title of hybrid rice granary

MANILA, Philippines - The 15-hectare hybrid rice farm of Catalino Rodriguez in Sta. Isabel in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, was the site of a harvest festival held last March 18, with over 100 rice farmers from the province and guests led by Butil Party-list Rep. Agapito Guanlao and Cabiao Mayor Gloria “Baby” Congco, in attendance.

The morning affair was part of a series of harvest festivals organized by SL Agritech Corp. to promote the planting of hybrid rice. This month of April, it has scheduled four harvest festivals. These are in Naujan in Oriental Mindoro; Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija; Bago City, Negros Occidental; and in Prosperidad in Agusan del Sur.

Guanlao, who chairs the House committee on food security, lauded farmers in Nueva Ecija for their big contribution to the country’s total rice production. He expressed hope that “Nueva Ecija will someday become the ‘hybrid rice granary of the Philippines.’”

“Binabati ko kayong mga magsasaka sa dakong ito at sa buong probinsya ng Nueva Ecija sa laki ng inyong inaani sa pagtatanim ng hybrid rice. Ngayon ko lamang ito nalaman at nakita at ito’y ibabalita ko sa aming mga magsasaka sa Pampanga. Tutuong malaki ang kapakinabangan ng pagtatanim ng uri ng palay na ito,” he said.

The same congratulatory message was echoed by Congco. “Binabati ko kayo sa pagkakataong ito and I am happy to note that more and more farmers here in Cabiao are now planting this high-yielding rice variety. I can see from here na malaki ang nagiging kontribusyon ng ating probin-sya to a sustained increase in the national palay production of our country,” she said.

Henry Lim, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of SL Agritech which produces the high-yielding SL-8H hybrid rice seeds variety, said his firm’s paramount goal “is to be an instrument in improving the lives and welfare of our farmers.”

“We have been holding harvest festivals all over the country since three years ago to promote the planting of hybrid rice whose production is much, much bigger than the traditio nal (inbred) rice variety. Hindi pwedeng hanggang sa traditional seeds variety na lang tayo na napakaliit nga ang naaani,” he said, as he praised Mang Catalino “for being receptive in adopting modern farm technologies and practices.”

Through all the years that he has been a rice farmer, Mang Catalino was planting the traditional inbred rice variety, producing an average of only 70 to 80 cavans per hectare. Sometime in 2006, an SL Agritech field technician convinced him to try planting hybrid rice. Without hesitation, he tried it in a two-hectare lot and to his surprise, his production, he said, was impressive. Since then, Mang Catalino’s 15-hectare hybrid rice farm has been producing an average of 220 cavans per hectare.