The Department of Agriculture in Region 9 (DA-9) hosted the 6th National Rice Technology Forum from March 22 to March 23, 2018 at Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte.
Agriculture Secretary Manny F. Piñol, together with Zamboanga Del Norte Governor Roberto Uy, Dipolog Mayor Dexter Uy, and DA-9 Regional Executive Director Constancio G. Alama graced the farmers’ forum which was conducted on the first day.
Adopting the theme “Increase Production through Hybrid Rice Technology”, the event featured 26 rice varieties, introduced and maintained by the country’s top local seed producers, planted in a demonstration farm in Barangay Olingan, Dipolog, Zamboanga Del Norte.
To help farmer-participants decide which varieties the wish to use in their own farms, the varieties were presented with focus on the appearance of the crop, crop injuries/ pest and disease, lodging, and panicle formation.
“We will not require or recommend any variety, it’s the farmers decision, they need to plan and decide what they really need,” Piñol said.
During the event, Piñol urged the local executives of Zamboanga Del Norte to organize the farmers in the province so that it would be easy for the national government to assist them from pre- to post-production and until the marketing stage.
“Once the farmers have already organized themselves, the local government can propose for various projects including the establishment of a rice processing complex which will be managed by its own farmers group,” Piñol said.
“Kapag na-organize na sila, pwede na silang mag-apply ng loan sa ACPC for the procurement of seeds and equipment. They can also apply for crop insurance offered by the PCIC,” Piñol said.
To assure that the farmers will get the best inputs, Piñol proposed standardization of the varieties. According to the agri chief, DA through the guidance of Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) should help farmers in assessing the performance of each varieties.
“The rice derby must create a standard for the varieties to be procured. The average performance of the varieties should not be less than six metric tons per harvest. If it’s less than 6 MT, it must be removed from the list,” Piñol said.
The seed companies, which showcased their products include Longping (LP 937 & LP 2096), Seedworks (TH82 & US 88), Bayer (Bigante Plus & Habilis), Syngenta (NK5017, RH 9000 & S6003), Pioneer (PHB 73, PHB 77 & PHB 79), SL Agritech (SL 8H, SL 12H, SL 18H & SL 19H), PhilSCAT (M38 & P9 F1), PhilRice (M1, M19 & M20), Advanta (PAC 801 & ADV 8112), BioSeed (Bio 453 & Bio 650), and DPIA (NSIC 396).
While in Zamboanga del Norte, Piñol awarded P57 million worth of agri-fishery intervention, under the Special Area for Agricultural Development of DA. ### (Kristel Merle, DA-AFID)
