Dumalag FITS Center showcases high hybrid rice yields

By Niño Manaog

University Extension Associate

Capiz State University

To showcase the harvest of hybrid rice in their municipality, the Farmers’ Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center based in Dumalag, Capiz, in partnership with the local government of Dumalag and the Department of Agriculture (DA), hosted the Fiesta sa Palayan in Barangay San Rafael, Dumalag, Capiz on October 7, 2011.

Through the efforts of the Dumalag FITS Center led by Manager Ronelyn de Tomas, Dumalag’s third hybrid rice harvest festival event showcased the best yield of the municipality.

The Fiesta sa Palayan was witnessed by representatives of the local government of Dumalag led by Mayor Lilia Castro, the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Unit 6 (DA-RFU 6), representatives of a seeds company and farmer representatives from the town of Dumarao, Capiz who were considered potential adopters of the hybrid rice technology.

Featured in the program were the testimonies of Jimmy Febrada and his cousin, Glicerio Febrada, both of sitio Agbay-ang in Barangay San Rafael, Dumalag, Capiz, who produced the highest yields in their farms in the last cropping season.

Local officials join the stakeholders in

celebrating the farmers hight yield for the year.

From July to October this year, 45-year-old Jimmy Febrada recorded an average of 176 bags per hectare planted to NSIC Rc 210H or Mestizo 23; while 44-year-old Glicerio Febrada harvested 173 bags of NSIC Rc 124H, otherwise known as Mestizo 6, or Bigante for the same cropping.

According to Bernie Protacio, information service specialist of Dumalag FITS Center, Jimmy Febrada discovered the goodness of hybrid rice by accident. At first, he was not convinced of its quality and high yield. But when he used the leftover seeds of neighbor farmer Amelita Panes for the first cropping this year, the three bags of Mestizo 8 or TEJ yielded a total of 176 cavans, a far cry from the usual 29 cavans of inbred variety he used in the same area. Based on Dumalag FITS Center’s records, the average yield of the farmers planting hybrid rice is normally high, while inbred rice normally posts lower figures than the hybrid counterparts in the same areas.

Meanwhile, there is also the story of 45-year old Billy Fruponga of barangay Duran of the same town who has been planting the Bigante variety for four years. For the last cropping season, Fruponga yielded some 140 cavans from the 10 kilograms of rice seeds he planted in one hectare, as compared to the 30-sack yield of the 212 variety he yields from direct seeding. According to Teresa Badilla, technology services specialist at Dumalag FITS Center, farmers are taught the conventional practices in farming in growing hybrid varieties, from cultivation to land preparation to weeding to farm maintenance. Badilla said that the high average yield of the hybrid rice in Dumalag, particularly Bigante, is attributed to its compatibility with the soil of the municipality.

For her part, Manager Ronelyn De Tomas takes pride in the fact that Dumalag is considered reputable for the hybrid rice production. According to De Tomas, farmers from the neighboring towns of Capiz and even Bingawan, Iloilo go to their office to coordinate on the purchase of seeds and consult them for the same concerns.

De Tomas also said that the hybrid rice is a hit among their local farmers, because of their staunch campaign to promote its viability through the conduct Farmers Field Schools across the barangays and the full support of the local government for this undertaking.