Late but Not Outdone

By Sosimo Ma. Pablico

BEING LATE IN A LEARNING SITUATION does not necessarily mean that it would be difficult to catch up with those who started from the very beginning, as shown by a 76 year old farmer who has produced the highest and second highest yields in two seasons of the third technical cooperation project (TCP 3) of PhilRice and JICA [Japan International Cooperation Agency] in Rizal, Nueva Ecija.

In addition, he was among the six TCP 3 farmers who produced at least 10 t/ha from NSIC Rc122 or Angelica in 2006 dry season with 10.34 t/ha.  Come to think of it, this was his first season as a participating farmer of TCP 3.

And yet, Martin Perez of Purok Kaunlaran, Agbannawag attended only 17 of the 22 sessions of the farmers’ field school in 2006 wet season.  Moreover, he got only 78 percent (39 out of 50 questions) in the post-test at the end of the FFS.

Mang Martin is actually the oldest brother of Dominador Perez, who is considered the leader of the TCP 3 farmers in Agbannawag.  Being the eldest in a brood of four, he started farming right after his high school education from a trade school to be able to send his siblings to school.  Doming, the second boy, was only 6 years old when their father died.

According to Mang Martin, rice cropping at the start was only once a year. Pantabangan Dam was not even a dream yet and, hence, there was no irrigation system that would make two crops of rice a year possible. Thus, the fields were left to fallow after the wet season rice crop.

And since he was following the traditional practices that were handed down from generation to generation, his yields were ridiculously low. Even when irrigation water was already available, he still followed traditional rice cropping practices, as the new rice technology was just beginning to evolve. 

Thus, even as he was already planting two crops of rice a year, his yields did not improve much because of the absence of new technology.  In extremely rare instances, he was just too happy to harvest more than 100 bags per hectare (bags/ha) with the new improved varieties.

Right now, according to Doming, Mang Martin is cultivating 8 ha, 3 ha of which are his own.  He is the caretaker of 5 ha.

Joins TCP 3

Upon the suggestion of Doming, Mang Martin joined the participating farmers of TCP 3 during the dry season of 2006.  He was late by one season, as the project started in 2005 wet season.

However, his first crop in the project, direct-seeded NSIC Rc122 (Angelica), gave him 10.34 t/ha.  This was 2.44 t/ha or 31 percent higher than his harvest of 7.90 t/ha from the same variety in 2005 dry season.  Although he was the sixth among the six “10-tonners”, his yield was not far from those with higher yields than him – 10.36, 10.98, 11.06, 12.11, and 12.19 t/ha, in an ascending order.  He was only 1.85 t/ha lower than Pedro Panahon Jr. who got the highest yield.

In his second season, 2006 wet season, Mang Martin proved to the other TCP 3 participants that he is the guy to be watched, as he obtained the second highest yield of 8.82 t/ha from transplanted PSB Rc82.  The highest yield, 8.96 t/ha, was obtained by Engracio Martin.  Except the two of them, no one else harvested at least 8 t/ha that season.

For the 2007 dry season, his third season with TCP 3, Mang Martin direct seeded a private hybrid in two locations and Angelica in a third location.  In one location of the private hybrid, he harvested 14.90 t/ha, which was the highest yield among eight farmers who harvested at least 10 t/ha.  However, he also harvested 9.54 t/ha from the same private hybrid and 7.79 t/ha from the inbred Angelica. 

Amazingly, his actual yield of 14.90 t/ha (298 bags) from a private hybrid was 4.56 t/ha (91.2 bags) higher than his 2006 dry season yield from Angelica.  It also means, however, that the yield of this variety is not really dependable, since it’s yield varied from one location to another (a difference of 5.36 t/ha) even as it was cultivated by only one farmer who used the same cultural practices.

He said that in the 2007 dry season, he closely followed the schedule of fertilizer application and was monitoring his farms everyday, particularly in the mornings.  This paid him well since he obtained the highest yield among 43 farmers.

Technologies

Among the important technologies that he thinks gave him high yield was thorough land preparation within one month before planting.  He said this allows the decomposition of rice straw and, hence, the return of nutrients to the soil. 

Another is the application of fertilizer 10 to 14 days after transplanting and 60 days before maturity to ensure that the plants are well nourished for the production of grains. A reading of 3 and below in a 4-window LCC [leaf color chart] dictates that 1 bag urea must be top dressed per hectare.

Mang Martin said it is not necessary to spray insecticides “kung walang peste at sakit para hindi masaktan ang mga kaibigang kulisap (if there are no sufficient insect pests and diseases in order that friendly insects would not be hurt).”

In the production of seedlings, he needs only 20 kg of seeds and grows these in 400 sq m seedbed.  He applies organic fertilizer on the seedbed before sowing to loosen the soil and facilitate easier pulling of seedlings.

He said that he will continue to use the technologies he is using now and will even try to improve them, if possible.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/harvest-time/)

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