Seeds are sown! MinDA, PhilRice Document Pilot Irrigated Upland Rice Farming

The pioneering privately-funded trial on Upland Rice Farming using modern pressurized irrigation and fertigation was launched without any fanfare and ceremonies in my farm in Kidapawan City today.

The pilot project, established in a 460-square meter vacant space in my farm, will be documented and validated the Philippine Rice Research Institute Midsayap Field Office and the Mindanao Development Authority.

While no government funds were and would be used in this trail-blazing experiment, I decided to engage PhilRice and MinDA for validation and documentation because I know that the results of this undertaking would have a huge impact the lives of many poor farming families who traditionally planted upland rice in many areas of the country.

Using Israel’s pressurized irrigation and fertigation technology, this study will determine whether upland rice farmers could plant twice a year, instead of the traditional once a year upland rice farming.

The pressurized irrigation will utilize the rain-type system using tubes with nano perforations which results in a rain-type sprinkling of water over an area of about 2 meters both sides.

We also designed a crude imitation of Israel’s fertigation technology by mixing 3 liters of liquid NPK fertilizer in irrigation water which was sprayed evenly over the area to serve as basal.

For seeds, we used a modern hybrid rice variety for the rain-fed areas, TH 82 which was developed by the US Seedworks in India and which had shown high yields of up to 10-tons per hectare in previous trials.

The seeds which were provided free by US Seedworks’ Remus Morandante were soaked overnight before they were sown in dry field today.

With a maturity period of 110-days, harvest of the TH 82 is expected to be second week of September after which we will schedule a second cropping to be harvested February next year.

The objective of the study is to determine whether pressurized irrigation and fertigation systems would allow the upland rice farmer to plant twice a year because of the availability of water.

The results could have a huge impact on the country’s upland rice production which traditionally is done only once a year in an area estimated to be about 100,000-hectares.

Pressurized irrigation which is either drip or sprinkler and the fertigation technology perfected by Israel are the game changers in this program.

The system is more effective and less expensive than the traditional drench irrigation because the water volume is determined by the actual water needs of the upland rice.

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!

#FarmIsTheBestClassroom!

(Photos were taken by the MinDA Media team during actual farm activity today witnessed by MinDA officials and staff, including Joey Recimilla, Helen de Castro, Bom Sales, Genevieve Bangcaya and others. The PhilRice team is composed of Dr. Sailila Abdula, Dr. Abdulkadil Ummal and upland rice technician Evelyn Tabenil.)