Philippine outreach program on course

The Philippines is one of the world’s most densely populated countries, with about 90 million Filipinos who consume 119 kilograms of rice every year. Most Pinoys are rice eaters, but not enough rice reaches every table because of national problems such as the low amount of public investment on research, development and extension, irrigation, and farm-to-market roads; and limited mechanisms for extension to facilitate adoption of available technologies for rainfed and other unfavorable ecosystems. The Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) has been working hard with national partners to improve farmer livelihoods in the country by extending promising rice-growing technologies through the IRRC country outreach program (ICOP).

ICOP activities kicked off formally in January 2006 with the first trainers’ training held among staff of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Department of Agriculture, and local government units (LGUs) from Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, and Isabela provinces. IRRC scientists provided lectures and training on site-specific nutrient management (SSNM), seed quality testing and storage, crop establishment, integrated weed management, alternate wetting and drying, and ecologically based rodent management.

Bohol feels the flood of technologies ...
A similar IRRC training workshop was held in Bohol in July 2006 among extension and resource specialists from the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), ATI, and LGUs.

The request for a basket of IRRC technologies came after the successful launch of a water-saving project in December 2005. Through the partnership among collaborators and the IRRC, promoting rice production technologies has great potential for improving the livelihood of rural families in Bohol.

To identify the needs related to rice production and opportunities for impact from new technologies, a series of household surveys and focus group discussions were held among farmers and NIA staff. A follow-up survey will be conducted in late 2008 to monitor progress of activities in Bohol.

NIA launched a water-saving project in 2005 to improve the performance of irrigation systems and increase water productivity by promoting IRRC water-saving technologies to 5,000 farmers in Bohol. Training activities were quickly conducted among 31 water-saving agents and 200 leaders of irrigators’ associations (IA). Eighteen AWD demonstration fields were established along with hybrid rice trials. In February, Engr. Billy Mejia of NIA held 19 workshops among 3,000 farmers from 19 IAs.

... as well as Luzon
AWD is now widely adopted in irrigated areas in the Philippines and several Asian countries. The IRRC Water-Saving Work Group (WSWG) is studying the biophysical (yield, water use) and economic performance of AWD in pilot sites in the Philippines.

Aside from AWD, the WSWG promotes the aerobic rice system through participatory testing of farmers in Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Ilocos Norte, and Bohol. In Bulacan, aerobic rice was introduced in 2004 with the Bulacan Agricultural State College through farmer participatory research. In 2005, 41 farmers tried the technology, followed by 25 farmers in 2006. Yields varied from 1 to 6.8 tons per hectare. Farmers appreciated the low production costs, resistance to water scarcity, and good eating quality but expressed concern over lower yields, weed infestation, and marketability. (For more on aerobic rice, read Ripple Vol. 2, No. 3.)

Iloilo undergoes weed management ...
Meanwhile, weeds, particularly weedy rice, are a big problem in Iloilo, with the highest infestation rate of 90%. The IRRC Labor Productivity Work Group (LPWG) works with weed scientist Madonna Casimero of PhilRice in the fight against weedy rice. Dr. Casimero says that weedy rice has been a threat since it was first found in the Philippines in the 1960s because it cannot be controlled by herbicides. Most farmers are not even aware of weedy rice. “Some farmers think that it is only a mixture of different rice breeds,” says Dr. Casimero.

To widen the knowledge on weedy rice and its preventive measures and controls, the IRRC developed a brochure with Dr. Azmi bin Man of the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute. The brochure has been translated into Filipino and distributed to local farmers (www.irri.org/irrc). LPWG weed scientist Joel Janiya regularly visits Iloilo to monitor fields with weedy rice. He was also interviewed on a local television channel in 2006 to introduce the brochure and discuss integrated weed management and the problem of weedy rice.

A yield loss assessment study was conducted for wet direct seeding in Iloilo with farmers located at the tail-end of the irrigation system. Water control is difficult and unreliable in this part of the irrigation system. Results showed that, with farmers’ weed control practices (early postherbicide application plus selective weeding), yield loss during the wet season ranged from 1% to 7%, whereas, in the dry season, yield loss ranged from 6% to 45%. This highlights the importance of water control in yield loss in wet direct-seeded rice. There is a parallel trial in Bohol on AWD in a farmer’s field to monitor weed infestation and identify major weed species thriving in AWD fields. This monitoring is in anticipation of potential weed problems that might develop with the use of AWD.

... and nutrient and crop management, too
The Productivity and Sustainability Work Group partners with public and private organizations in disseminating improved nutrient and crop management practices to increase the profit of farmers. The results of collaborative research with PhilRice before 2005 were summarized in generic SSNM guidelines for the Philippines, which have been available at www.irri.org/irrc/ssnm since early 2006. Since 2005, SSNM for rice has been presented at professional and technical meetings across the Philippines; and group training on SSNM was conducted at PhilRice headquarters, and in Pangasinan, Iloilo, and Bohol. SSNM principles and guidelines are included in a new publication of PCARRD entitled Philippines Recommends for Soil Diagnosis and Amelioration, which will facilitate further dissemination of SSNM in various sectors of the agricultural community.

The PSWG provided SSNM training to field staff of a large fertilizer company in the Philippines (AFC Fertilizer and Chemicals, Inc.) in April 2005. The company used the principles of SSNM to revise its national fertilizer recommendations for rice. The net effect has been a better matching of fertilization to the needs of the crop for supplemental nutrients, which are markedly lower in the low-yielding rainy season than in the high-yielding, dry season.

Dr. Greta Gabinete, professor of the West Visayas State University, developed locally adapted guidelines for SSNM with optimized seed rate for wet-seeded rice in 2005-06 in Iloilo Province. In 2007, she coordinated farmer participatory dissemination of improved crop management with seed rate, fertilizer use, and judicious use of zinc optimized for farmers’ conditions in seven towns in Iloilo Province. Technicians in the municipal agricultural offices and farmers in the barangays are active participants. Participating farmers are taking up a reduced seed rate because of increased profit through more effective use of fertilizer and reduced diseases.

Zinc has been identified as an important constraint to high yields. The needs for zinc fertilizer are now being determined through farmer participatory research. Collaboration has been established with IRRI plant breeders in the screening of zinc-efficient varieties. Future efforts include developing strategies to ensure the availability of quality zinc fertilizer at affordable prices and with optimal management.

The Work Group’s focus is now on using the scientific principles of SSNM in the participatory development and evaluation of field-level nutrient and crop management practices tailored to local conditions. The PSWG assisted in June 2007 in Bohol in developing locally adapted SSNM guidelines ready for participatory evaluation by local technicians and farmers. The principles of SSNM, as developed for rice, have been adapted for maize by researchers in the Philippines working on a complementary project.

Nueva Ecija bids rats bye bye ...
In Zaragosa, Nueva Ecija, a community-based rat campaign jointly funded by PhilRice and the IRRC was launched in June 2006. A year later, a popularity contest (with the person producing the most rat tails as the winner) among students was held in August to sustain the community’s participation in practicing recommended rat management. A whopping 15,149 rat tails were counted at the end of the contest.

The barangay council and the office of the provincial agriculturist see the rat campaign going on a municipal level and soon province-wide. The IRRC will continue supporting the campaign as part of its country outreach program in the Philippines and will conduct a qualitative study to monitor intermediate outcomes and impacts from the recently implemented rat campaign, as a case study to gain knowledge on the process of how the campaign has become successful.

... while postharvest gadgets work!
Hermetic or airtight containers can help double the life of rice seeds, maintain good milling quality, and protect seeds from pests. In humid tropical conditions such as in the Philippines, seed and grain quality deteriorate quickly within 3–4 months of storage because the grains absorb water from surrounding air, and storage pests, mostly insects, accumulate. In collaboration with GrainPro Philippines, IRRI has developed a cheap, farmer-friendly, 50-kilogram hermetic Super Bag that costs less than US$1.20. Commercial units with 5–200-ton capacity are also available.

In 2005, Philippine partners worked with the IRRC Postproduction Work Group and Vietnamese partners to produce commercial prototypes of a rice hull furnace that can be fitted into commonly used flat-bed dryers with a 4-ton capacity. The concept of a rice hull furnace was developed back in 1996 in Vietnam as an alternative to kerosene burners used in most mechanical rice dryers.

A 4-ton seed dryer, a prototype of the furnace, was installed for evaluation at PhilRice, replacing an older furnace type that was due for reconstruction. Research farm laborers gave good feedback on the automatic feeding and ash disposal, which reduced their need to stir the husk and remove ash in the hot, dirty workplace next to the furnace.

Trina Mendoza (t.mendoza@cgiar.org),
Roland Buresh (r.buresh@cgiar.org), Joel Janiya (j.janiya@cgiar.org),
and Marianne Samson (m.samson@cgiar.org)
 

Country Outreach Programs archive