Israel ‘Fertigation’ Technology Upland Hybrid Rice Demo Farms Expanded to 11 Mindanao Areas

The experiment on planting upland rice varieties, including a new hybrid seed capable of producing 10 metric tons per hectare, using the Israeli technology on pressurized irrigation and fertigation will be expanded to 11 more sites in 8 provinces in Mindanao next month.

The program will be handled by the staff of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) who had recently completed the 4-Session Course on Modern Irrigation and Fertigation Technology in Tropical Regions conducted by Israel’s Mashav Agricultural Training Center.

The Upland Rice Farming With Fertigation Technology Program is supported by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) led by its former Executive Director, Dr. Sailila Abdula, the private seed company Seedworks Philippines, the local government units and the farmer-cooperators.

The demonstration sites in the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Surigao del Sur will determine whether a second cropping for upland rice could be achieved by using pressurized irrigation and fertigation.

Traditionally, upland rice in Mindanao is only planted once a year and timed with the onset of the rainy season from February to March with farmers harvesting from May to June.

However, since farmers are using indigenous varieties and rely only on rains and traditional planting practices, the yield is very low, ranging from 1 to 2 metric tons per hectare.

With the recent development of a hybrid rice variety which could be seeded in dry land without irrigation, the TH 82 of Seedworks, I started a small experiment in my farm where I installed a rainpipe irrigation with a small tank for fertigation.

The TH 82 rice is now in the Panicle Initiation stage at 58-days old and harvest is expected in the second week of September.

In the MinDA-initiated demonstration farms, the TH 82 will be planted side by side with an OPV or Inbred variety and an Indigenous variety traditionally used by farmers in the area for comparative study on yield.

Pressurized Irrigation and Fertigation facilities will be installed by experts from MinDA with the expense to be shared by the LGU and the farmer-cooperator.

US Seedworks Philippines will provide the seeds of TH82 along with inputs for the whole demo farm while PhilRice will provide technical support and documentation.

All of the demonstration farms will serve as the learning sites for upland farmers in Mindanao with those coming from the nearby provinces to be invited during the season-long activities.

A harvest festival is set between November and December this year to determine the average yield of the three different varieties.

The development of a modern upland rice farming technology is expected to address poverty and ensure food sufficiency in the highlands of Mindanao utilizing vast unproductive lands, especially in the Ancestral Domain Areas.

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(The first two and last photos were taken in my farm where I have planted TH 82 in 500-square meters while the other photos show the distribution of seeds and consultations with the farmer-cooperators conducted by the staff of MinDA, Seedworks and PhilRice in the different areas of Mindanao.)