The one thing I love about moving around the countryside is that I get to see realities on the ground and learn new lessons on how to improve our people’s lives.
During my recent trip to Negros Occidental to check on a working Ram Pump System in an upland village in Murcia, Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino, an agriculturist-lawyer who hails from my hometown, M’lang, shared to me an experiment which the provincial government, the Sugar Regulatory Administration and the PhilRice is conducting in several areas.
The model farms are in the SRA Research area in La Granja, La Carlota; Block farm in Aranda, Hinigaran; a private farm in Sagasa, Bago City and in another Block farm in Talisay City.
I was not actually able to go to the area and see the pilot farm because we were catching up with the Ferry schedule but Japhet sent me photos of the Sugarcane-Upland Rice Intercropping Project.
He said the concept is not new since this was tried before by Victorias Milling Company but was discontinued.
This time, he said, the model farms use the NSIC RC 27, an inbred upland rice variety developed by PhilRice which matures in 107 days with a maximum yield of 4.3 metric tons per hectare and an average of 2.7-MT.
Since it takes about 4 months for the sugarcane to grow to a height where the leaves would start to cover the rows, Japhet said there is a window to plant upland rice during the season which starts April to June, which is also the planting season for sugarcane.
Planting rice simultaneously with sugarcane or even one or two weeks ahead allows the farmer to utilize about 2/5 of an hectare or 4,000 sqm. which could give him a maximum palay yield of 1.7-metric tons.
That yield could produce 20 bags of milled upland rice enough for the family to survive through the off-planting period called “Tiempos Muertes” before the start of the milling season.
“Tiempos Muertes” refers to the period after the last weeding of the sugarcane fields and the start of the milling season when hunger stalks many poor farming families in Negros because there are no more farm activities to earn from.
This is an interesting experiment because this could be replicated in Mindanao, especially in the provinces of Bukidnon, North Cotabato, Davao Del Sur and Maguindanao where wide areas of sugarcane could be found.
Inter-cropping is not new to Mindanao farmers as there are already models like Cassava, Corn, Abaca, Bananas under the Coconuts or Coffee, Cacao and Black Pepper under Falcata trees.
If successful, this upland rice-sugarcane intercropping could be an additional source of food for our people.
#AgricultureIsCommonSense!
#TheFarmIsTheBestClassroom!
#TravelExploreLearnLifeLessons!
(Photos were provided by the Provincial Agriculture Office of Negros Occidental. Thanks to Gov. Bong Lacson and PAO Japhet Masculino.)
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