Yield potentials of hybrid rice is simply amazing

Yield potentials of hybrid rice is simply amazing

By Emily B. Bordado

Its as if I won the jackpot prize, enthuses Aida Badong, 53-year old woman
farmer from Barangay San Nicolas, Baao, Camarines who harvested a record
yield of 343 cavans per hectare of hybrid rice the highest recorded so far in
the Bicol region. That makes her the strongest contender so far to the on-
going province-wide search for the best farmer under the hybrid rice
commercialization program which will culminate in October and where a cash
prize of P40,000 plus a farm equipment is at stake
Aida who up to now is still overwhelmed by the exceptional yield performance
of hybrid rice in her farm attributes her success not only to the use of the
super hybrid rice seeds (SL-8) but also to the extraordinary condition of her
farm which used to be a tilapia fishpond. She said the land is rich in nutrients
and micro-organisms because chicken manure was regularly broadcasted into
the pond as feed for the tilapia.

The Hybrid Rice Commercialization

Program received all out support
from the local goverment of Baao. It
has produced the highest record in
hybrid rice production. In photo are
(from right) Mayor Melquiades I.
Gaite, Aida Badong and spouse
Virgilio, municipal agriculturist

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Yield potentials of hybrid rice is simply amazing

Ramon B. Bitao, Rolly Nidea of SL

Agritech, agriculture technicians
Elsa M. Bustilla, Vincent Paz and
Santiago Enrique.

And even after the pond has been converted to a rice farm, the water from
the adjacent fishpond being tended by the family is also being drained into
the rice field. Moreover, this cropping season she applied 3 sacks of fertilizer
(14-14-14); 2 sacks of lime; 2 sacks of chicken manure; 10 kilograms zinc
sulfate and 1 liter Planergy, a nutrient supplement to increase grain weight.
All in all she spends only over P12,000 for inputs and labor this cropping
season.
The 1.5 hectare land located at barangay Buluang adjacent to barangay San
Nicolas actually belongs to the Bisoñia family which was developed for tilapia
culture. Aidas husband, Virgilio used to work as one of the caretakers of the
fishpond. But when the family patriarch, Job Bisonia died the land was left
idle for sometime. As Aida and Virgilio contemplated on the future of their
seven children the couple decided to venture into farming and asked
permission from the Bisonia family to use the idle land for farming purposes in
return they are to give ¼ of whatever produce they can get from the land to
the land owners.
Initially, the Badong couple planted certified palay seeds and they would get
an average harvest of 80 cavans. But upon the prodding of the agricultural
technician Elsa Bustilla, assigned in their barangay, they tried planting hybrid
rice (mestizo variety) in 2003 after attending an orientation seminar They
were already quite satisfied when they got a yield of 130 cavans per hectare.
Encouraged by the good performance of hybrid, they have been planting
hybrid rice for the past five cropping seasons. But their harvest this cropping
season is so far the highest and surpassed their expectations.
Virgilio does contractual work in constructing fishponds for private
corporations and fishpond owners in Sorsogon and other parts of the region
that is why most of the time Aida is left to tend their farm with the help of
their sons.
The couple derive also income from a 4-hectare tilapia culture pond for
fingerlings and grow-out where they earn an average income of P60,000 every
four months. Their success in hybrid rice production where they realize an
approximate gross income of about P160,000 in one cropping is really amazing
and one for the books.
Aside from her preoccupation in the farm and in the fishpond Aida is also
active as barangay health worker. Although she and her husband did not finish
high school they are determined to give their children the formal education
they were deprived of. Their eldest daughter has obtained a college degree
but has opted to enter the religious vocation; the second son is now a civil

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Yield potentials of hybrid rice is simply amazing

engineer , another son is a seaman, another is AB economics graduate and

another is taking up Computer science. Two of their sons have deferred their
pursuit for a higher education until the elder siblings have graduated. But
with the income they derived from hybrid rice, the younger sons need not
wait for their elder sibling to finish a course. They can now enroll in any
course they would want to pursue.
But Aida hopes that one of his sons would come to love farming as they do and
derive the same benefits they are presently enjoying now. Although they still
lead a relatively modest life, their present financial status is more stable and
warrants a brighter future for the family.#

_____________
Source:
UMAsenso
Official publication of the Department of Agriculture RFU 5
Vol. 14 No. 1
January - March 2005

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