MORE NEWS, KALINGA

Tabuk’s hybrid rice production drops drastically; factors cited
ESTANISLAO ALBANO JR.

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Tabuk may have lost its reputation as the hybrid rice capital of the country after its production of hybrid seed and hybrid commercial rice plunged drastically in the last three years. In 2003 and 2004, Tabuk exceeded the farm area of 700 hectares for F1 or hybrid seed production and 7,000 hectares for commercial hybrid rice or F2 production.

During this wet season, its planting areas are now down to 40 hectares for F1 production and 1,579 for commercial rice production. City Agricultural Services Officer Gilbert Cawis said that the drastic reduction in planting area is attributed to a lot of factors, including the deterioration of the quality of both the F1 seeds and the AxB seeds (parent lines of F1).

Cawis said many commercial rice farmers were discouraged to plant hybrid rice after their supposed F1 seeds yielded multi-variety rice, noting that the seed producers were also discouraged after their AxB seeds had been found to be impure.

He hinted that the Philrice, one of the government agencies promoting the hybrid rice technology, is partly responsible, saying it was the source of the AxB seeds planted in Tabuk. He also blamed Tabuk farmers, noting that some of them did not rogue or weed out the off-type plants.

He likewise laid the blame on the seed inspectors of the Kalinga provincial government for not being strict in the implementation of the procedure for F1 production. Not only local farmers are the victims of the low-quality seeds but also farmers in other regions where the F1 production of Tabuk was sold.

Cawis said he has learned from the Agriculture Training Institute that Bicol farmers were complaining about the impure seeds sold to them by Tabuk farmers. He said rouging is necessary because once the seeds are harvested, there is no way to determine if these are F1 seeds, adding that these look the same although the genetic characteristics are different.

Another factor in the reduction of F1 production is the difficulty of collecting payments from the Cordillera office of the Department of Agriculture, Cawis said. There are times when it takes two cropping seasons before the payment for the seeds is collected. "If the farmer has only two hectares and has planted AxB to the whole area, where would he get his operational expenses in the next cropping season if his seeds are not paid on time?" he asked.

He said that farm workers compound the problem by charging higher fees for pulling and planting seedlings. He said that for inbred rice, farm workers charge P3,600 for pulling and transplanting the seedlings, but they demand P4,000 for hybrid rice. Cawis also said that the change in the eating quality of Mestizo 1, one of two government hybrid rice varieties, has worked against the promotion of hybrid rice among farmers.

He observed that the higher price of hybrid seeds as against inbred rice seeds is also turning away farmers. With the government subsidy for each bag of F1 at P1,000, the farmer’s equity is P1,400. It is higher if the seed is produced by private companies. The question nagging Cawis and other agriculture officials in the province is how to regain the distinction of Tabuk as the leader in hybrid rice production among towns in the country.

Cawis said that the recent entry of private firms in the production of hybrid seeds in Tabuk is an initial step towards this direction because these firms are very strict in the enforcement of the standards of seed production. This cropping season, SL8 Agritech, the leading private seed producer, has expanded its operation to Tabuk, planting 14.5 hectares to its AxR variety.

Kalinga solon urged: Fund P6M projects
TABUK CITY -- Rep. Manuel Agyao was requested by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to fund P6 million worth of in infrastructure projects in the province. These included P2 million construction of Cagaluan-Tanglag farm to market road, P2 million for the rehabilitation of Tulgao road and another P2 million for the purchase of two garbage dump trucks for barangays Bulanao and Dagupan.

Another request was addressed to Sen. Eduardo Angara asking P2 million for the gravelling of the 2 km Cadao, Rizal farm to market road. The SP also asked the National Irrigation Agency to include in its P507 million World Bank funded repair of the Upper Chico River Irrigation System the expansion of lateral canals to serve the unserviceable areas in Tabuk.

The SP had transferred P60,000 from the current 20 percent development fund of the province to Barangay Balawag this city for the construction of a jetmatic deepwell. It also allotted P20,000 for the improvement of the Rizal National High School, Macutay Annex. Another P15,000 was given to Bado Dangwa Elementary School for the improvement of its footpath.

The request converting the Taloctoc (Tanudan) road into a provincial road was referred to the infrastructure SP’s committee. The request to Rep. Agyao for the funding was initiated by board member Fernando Abay. --PIA-Kalinga