UPLAND HYBRID RICE DEMO FARM IN IPIL, ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY

Farmers in Zamboanga Sibugay could now see for themselves the benefits of the Israeli technology of Pressurized Irrigation and Fertigation with the opening this week of the Demonstration Area for Upland Hybrid Rice Farming in Barangay Upper Pangi, Ipil.

The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has partnered with a private school, the Sibugay Technical Institute Inc., which provided a 1,000-square meter area and funded the installation of pressurized irrigation and fertigation equipment.

The demonstration farm, initiated by MinDA and implemented with the support of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), private seed companies, private fertilizer companies and the local government units, aims to show farmers how to plant a hybrid rice variety in upland areas without the traditional drench-type gravity irrigation system.

Instead, a pressurized spray irrigation system will be used in providing a measured volume of water to the rice farm and fertilizer will be mixed with irrigation water in a technology called “Fertigation.”

The “Upland Rice Irrigation and Fertigation Demonstration Farm Project” is part of MinDA’s advocacy to introduce modern technology to make use of the vast upland areas of Mindanao for food production, especially rice.

The demonstration farm inside the Sibugay Institute of Technology compound has an area of at least 1,000 square meters which would divided into two sections, one with pressurized irrigation and fertigation facilities and the other half would be left dependent on natural precipitation.

At least two hybrid rice varieties, TH82 from SeedWorks and Kimbee from Ramgo Seeds, will be used in the demo farm while the Department of Agriculture will supply the inbred and black rice varieties.

Technicians from PhilRice and the local government units will be involved in the monitoring of the project which is expected to harvest by December this year.

There would be 21 other demonstration farms to be established in the different areas in Mindanao to help develop and scale-up the knowledge and skills of upland farmers and increase production using modern technology.

The first demonstration which I personally funded and started in my farm is now on its 88th day and harvest is expected by the second week of September.

NATIONAL NEWS