Aerobic rice being pushed

MANILA, Philippines – Seeds of a special variety of “aerobic rice” will be produced in agricultural state universities and colleges (SUCs) to enable upland farmers to plant rice.

Dr. William Medrano, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) executive director, said the Bulacan Agricultural State College has already developed several promising “aerobic rice” varieties under a research project last year.

“It was an agricultural research project which we funded with a P1.5-million grant,” he said.

The “aerobic rice” varieties developed in the Bulacan college came from the International Rice Research Institute in Laguna, he added.

Medrano said that the planting of “aerobic rice” in mountainous areas that do not catch much rainwater could be a feasible strategy to boost rice production.

Research on the “aerobic rice” has shown that it could grow in sloping and poorly irrigated agricultural lands, he added.

However, Medrano said the Bulacan Agricultural College only has a limited supply of “aerobic rice” seeds.

“So we are looking into the possibility of having our other agriculture SUCs massively produce seeds of the ‘aerobic rice,’” he said.

Medrano said CHEd is conducting an inventory of idle agricultural lands in state colleges and universities where “aerobic rice” farming could be undertaken.

“Right now, we’re coordinating with the SUCs for an inventory of their idle arable lands,” he said.

“Afterwards, we will mobilize the SUCs for the planting of the aerobic rice seeds in some of the schools.”

Burning rice straw could cause pollution

Anti-pollution advocates urged farmers yesterday to stop burning rice straw (dayami) to prevent huge amounts of toxic contaminants from increasing air pollution.

The Ecological Waste Coalition (EcoWaste) asked farmers to instead compost rice straw into organic fertilizers.

“The open burning of rice straw after harvesting persists despite the Unified Campaign on Composting and Prevention of Rice Straw Burning that the Department of Agriculture launched in 2006, as part of its Agri-Kalikasan program,” EcoWaste said.

“But farmers should help the government, and should engage in the ecological management of rice straw and other crop residues in order to help efforts in finding real solutions to the unfolding rice crisis and global warming or climate change.”

Roy Alvarez, EcoWaste vice president, said “rice fields on fire” are pollution hot spots that can release great amounts of toxic contaminants, which could increase air pollution levels and adversely affect the climate and public health.

Among the toxic contaminants that burning rice straw could produce are dioxins and furans, he added.

Alvarez said these toxic byproducts are potent carcinogens or cancer-causing substances.

Smoke plumes from burning farm wastes contain other contaminants like fine dust particles such as PM10 or particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter, he added. 

Quoting a report by the Department of Science and Technology, Alvarez said the burning of agricultural wastes is the number one source of pollution in the country.

“If the straw from the palay to be harvested are burned and reduced to smoke, soot and ash, we are not only polluting the environment but also wasting valuable resources that can certainly help us in improving soil fertility, farmers’ income and community health,” he said. 

Exposure to the acrid smoke can induce or aggravate coughing, allergic rhinitis, asthma and other respiratory as well as cardiovascular diseases, Alvarez said. – With Katherine Adraneda