SYSTEM AND METHOD OF RICE PRODUCTION IN BARANGAY

PAGSABANGAN

A cropping calendar is a schedule of the rice growing season from

the fallow period and land preparation, to crop establishment and
maintenance, to harvest and storage. There are two Calendar schedule of
planting season that the farmers in Barangay Pagsabangan they follow.
This information we gathered from local experience of their leading
farmers, Agricultural technician and staff from the Agriculture Office of the
City and leading farmers in this area.

First the dry season which will start in the month of April
September. Meaning they will cultivate the land in the early part of April and
May and they will harvest it in the month of August and September
respectively. They call it Panuig due to the longer daylight and higher
production rate because of longer photosynthesis during this season, which
is in favor of the farmer growers to focus in maintaining the farm area
seriously.

The second planting season is the Pangulilang or the wet season

which will start from November and end in the month of March. This season
is full of rains and where sunlight is shorter compared to the first season of
the cropping calendar of the area. They can fell more floods and the water
level of their planted area excess and too much causing detrimental stress
to the plants and will results to higher grains failure. The rate of their
harvest is not very convincing compared to the Panuig season cropping.

Majority of the farmers in Pagsabangan requires their seeds must be

in quality and selected prolific variety preference. According to them quality
selected seeds for planting is just like a living product that must be grown,
harvested, and processed correctly in order to realize the yield potential of
their rice variety. Good quality seed can increase yields by 20%, according
to Mr. Daniel Sivelle, Chairman of the Pagsabangan Tagum City Farmers
Irrigators Association (PATAFIA), one of the big farmers association in the
Barangay.

He said that using good seed may leads to lower seeding rates,
higher crop emergence, reduced replanting, more uniform plant stands,
and more vigorous early crop growth. Vigorous growth in early stages
reduces weed problems and increases crop resistance to insect pests and
diseases. All of these factors contribute to higher yields and more
productive rice farms.

Good seed must be pure full and with uniform in size, viable more
than 80% germination rate with good seedling vigor, and free of weed
seeds, seed-borne diseases, pathogens, insects, or other matter.

Choosing seed of a suitable variety of rice that suits the environment

it will be grown in and ensuring the seed choosen of that variety is of the
highest possible quality is the essential first step in rice production of the
rice Farmers in Pagsabangan.

Land Preparation

Before rice can be planted, the soil should be in the best physical
condition for crop growth and the soil surface is must be level. Land
preparation very important methods for the farmer in Pagsabangan
because it involves plowing and harrowing to dig-up and mix and
incorporate the topsoil and the depth soil properly.

Cultivation of farmsoil will allows the seeds to be planted at the right

depth, and also helps in controlling weeds and other unwanted plants that
competes the selected rice variety plants of the farmers. Farmers can
cultivate the land themselves using carabao and other equipment such as
bao-bao or handtractor.

Next, the land is leveled to reduce the amount of water wasted by

uneven pockets of too-deep water or exposed soil. Effective land leveling
allows the seedlings to become established more easily, reduces the
amount of effort required to manage the crop, and increases both grain
quality and yields of the farmers.

Planting Method

The two main practices of establishing rice plants in Pagsabangan

are transplanting and direct seeding. Transplanting is the most popular
plant establishment technique and method of the rice Farmers of Barangay
Pagsabangan. It is commonly practiced as a Straight-row method of
planting system, which follows uniform spacing or pattern.

Planting spacing is an important factor in transplanting, according to

the Technician of the City Agriculture Officer of Tagum City, it requires only
40 to 60 kilograms of palay seeds per hectare. Proper spacing can
increase 25 40% of grains harvest. You will also save money on farm
inputs, labor, and materials. This methods facilitate management practices
such as hand or rotary weeding and application of fertilizers, herbicides and
pesticides. The farmers transplant 2 to 3 seedlings 0f 21 days grown
seedlings at 20 x 20 cm spacing. Closer spacing of 15 x 15 cm may be
used depending on the availability of planters and the cost of transplanting.
This is advantageous when weed control is inadequate.

The Direct seeding methods is seldom used by the farmers in the

area. It involves broadcasting dry seed or pre-germinated seeds and
seedlings by hand or planting them by machine. In rainfed and deepwater
fields, dry seed is manually broadcast onto the soil surface and then
incorporated either by plowing or by harrowing while the soil is still dry. In
irrigated areas, seed is normally pre- germinated for 2 to 3 days prior to
broadcasting in their prepared fields.

Water Use and Management

Cultivated rice is extremely sensitive to water shortages. To ensure

sufficient water, most rice farmers aim to maintain flooded conditions in
their field. This is especially true for lowland rice. Good water management
in lowland rice focuses on practices that conserve water while ensuring
sufficient water for the crop. There is no problem with our farmers in
Barangay Pagsabangan because of the presence of the National Irrigation
System delivery on this area. They are the one who manage in the delivery
of irrigation water system in the area.

According to my research study (Rice Knowledge Bank of the

International Rice Research Institute publication), according to their study
on the rice grains on average, it takes 1,432 liters of water to produce 1 kg
of rice in an irrigated lowland production system. Total seasonal water input
to rice fields varies from as little as 400 mm in heavy clay soils with shallow
groundwater tables to more than 2000 mm in coarse-textured (sandy or
loamy) soils with deep groundwater tables.

Around 13001500 mm is a typical amount of water needed for

irrigated rice in Asia. Irrigated rice receives an estimated 3443% of the
total worlds irrigation water, or about 2430% of the entire worlds
developed fresh water resources. Worldwide, water for agriculture is
becoming increasingly scarce. Due to its semi-aquatic ancestry, rice is
extremely sensitive to water shortages. To effectively and efficiently use
water and maximize rice yields, the following good water management
practices can be done. Rice is typically grown in bunded fields that are
continuously flooded up to 710 days before harvest. Continuous flooding
helps ensure sufficient water and control weeds.

Nutrient Management

At each growth stage, the rice plant has specific nutrient needs. This
makes nutrient management a critical aspect of rice farming. The unique
properties of flooded soils make rice different from any other crop. Because
of prolonged flooding in rice fields, farmers are able to conserve soil
organic matter and also receive free input of nitrogen from biological
sources, which means they need little or no nitrogen fertilizer to retain
yields. However, farmers in this area can tailor nutrient management to the
specific conditions of their field to increase yields.farm

They bought farm inputs at the Agricultural Store in the heart of the
City of Tagum where most of the Agricultural farm supply store located.
About 5 to 6 kilometers or 20 minutes travel from the production area to the
nearest agricultural store, that the farmers purchase the requirement farm
input products such as quality seeds, complete fertilizers, organic fertilizers,
pesticides and other farm supplies needed in their rice production.

Crop Health Management

The rice plant has a wide array of enemies in the field. These
include rodents, harmful insects, viruses, diseases, and weeds. Farmers in
this Barangay manage weeds through water management and land
preparation, by hand weeding, and in some cases herbicide chemical
application is their last resort in controlling weeds and other unwanted
plants that compete in plants nourishment.

According to Philippine Rice Research Institute (PHILRRICE

webteam@philrice.gov.ph), understanding the interactions among pests,
natural enemies, host plants, other organisms, and the environment allows
farmers to determine what if any pest management may be necessary.
Avoiding conditions that allow pests to adapt and thrive in a particular
ecosystem helps to identify weak links in the pests' life cycle and therefore
what factors can be manipulated to manage them.

Retaining natural ecosystems such that predators and natural

enemies of pests and diseases are kept in abundance can also help keep
pest numbers down. Pest and diseases management demonstrated and
partake by the Local Government thru the City Agriculture Office Technical
Team and farmers experience helps farmers on how to identify, prevent
and extract pest in the field. This is really useful to the farmers and not only
farmers, useful for all in the area of Barangay Pagsabangan.

Harvesting

Harvesting is the process of collecting the mature rice crop from the field.
Depending on the variety, a rice crop usually reaches maturity at around
105120 days after crop establishment. Harvesting activities include
cutting, stacking, handling, threshing, cleaning, and hauling. Good
harvesting methods help maximize grain yield and minimize grain damage
and deterioration.

There are two methods adopted by the Farmers in the area. Harvesting can
be done manually or mechanically and or depends on the labor
requirements operating in the area.

Manual harvesting is common across t.he vicinity of the farmers in the area
It involves cutting the rice crop with simple hand tools like sickles and
knives. Manual harvesting is very effective when a crop has lodged or
fallen over, however it is labor intensive. Manual harvesting requires 40 to
80 hours per hectare and it takes additional labor to manually collect and
haul the harvested crop.
Mechanical harvesting using reapers or combine harvesters is the other
option, but not so common due to the availability and cost of machinery.
Following cutting the rice must be threshed to separate the grain from the
stalk and cleaned. These processes can also be done by machine which
the Department of Agriculture in Region XI will give and should be funded
to the selected Rice Farmers Association in our Barangay of Pagsabangan.