San Roque, Northern Samar – On the way to Catubig town for the launching of the Samar Rice Development Program today, the “Biyaheng Bukid” team of the Department of Agriculture saw one of its biggest challenge – the island’s primitive farming system.
Farmers are still using the “Payatak” system of rice farming which is one of the main reasons behind the low productivity in this fertile island.
“Payatak” uses a herd of Carabaos tied together and guided to walk in circles in a paddy field full of weeds.
The purpose is to get the paddy field muddled after which a handheld tractor is used to scrape the grass to the sides of the paddy fields.
Then, planting is done after which the transplanted rice is left alone to compete with the weeds.
The result is a very low yield of only about 1.5 to 2 metric tons per hectare.
This is the biggest challenge that the Department of Agriculture faces as it embarks on the ambitious SRDP which aims to develop 100,000 hectares of fertile rice lands in Samar using modern technology, including farm mechanization.
Four towns have been identified as the pilot areas – Catubig, Las Navas, Mapanas and Jipapad in Eastern Samar.
These towns will serve as the demonstration and learning centers for farmers of the island.
The target is to increase the production from 2-metric tons to 6-metric tons with two harvests per year.
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