The PhilRice Drum Seeder Looked Good In April 2018 – Where Is It Now?

Above, top image, the Antique ricefield looks very promising in yield. Here is the story as shared on Facebook by PhilRice (my translation in English):

TINGNAN! Unang palayan sa Sta. Ana, Tibiao, Antique na natamnan ng 60kg binhi kada ektarya sa pamamagitan ng sabog-tanim.

Look! First ricefield in Santa Ana, Tibiao, Antique that was planted with 60 kg seeds per hectare by way of broadcasting.

Sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon, natunghayan ng mga magsasaka sa nasabing lugar na kayang-kaya ang 60kg kada ektarya gamit ang seed spreader machine (granular applicator) at certified seeds mula sa RCEF.

For the first time ever, farmers in that area witnessed that 60 kg/ha is quite enough using a seed spreader machine (granular applicator) and certified seeds from RCEF.

Makikita sa larawan na magaganda ang naging tubo at mabubulas ang mga itinanim na palay.

What can be seen in the picture is beautiful growth of and robust rice plants.

Ayon sa ulat, namangha ang mga magsasaka rito na kaya pala ang 60 kg na certified seeds sa isang ektarya na palayan. Aminado sila na umaabot sa 160-240 kg na binhi ang isinasabog nila tuwing taniman at ito na ang kanilang nakasanayan.

According to the report, farmers here were surprised that 60 kg of certified rice seeds is enough for 1 ha for seeding. They admitted that they were using 160-240 kg of seeds to broadcast every planting season and that was their usual practice.

Makakamit kaya nila ang mas mataas na ani gamit ang mga teknolohiyang ipinakilala ng DA-PhilRice? Abangan ang update sa mga susunod na araw.

Can they achieve higher yields using the technology introduced by PhilRice? Watch for the update in the coming days.

News and photographs by ABIGAIL BATUTO, PhilRice Negros Techno Demo Officer

Me, I am not going to wait for the coming days. I have seen similar growth in ricefields before. My guess for the coming harvest is a minimum of 5 tons/ha.

My higher concern right now is the use of the seed spreader. I have yet to see one, but “seed spreader” means “seed broadcaster,” which means the seeds are scattered as they may be, not single seeds on single hills that I can imagine. Also, “sabog-tanim” means broadcasting, so there is no uniform distancing between hills.

PhilRice I know has a “plastic drum-seeder” – above, the lower image I took 18 April 2018 in a LAKBAY ARAL at PhilRice Los Baños – that can seed 1-1.5 ha/day with a spacing of 20 cm between rows and a seeding rate of 20-40 kg/ha.

I suppose Antique farmers had not heard of the PhilRice drum seeder, so that they could have saved an additional 30 kg/ha of seeds? That is the difference between broadcasting (by seed spreader) and direct planting (by drum seeder).

It has been 3 years since I took that photograph – don’t tell me that that PhilRice technology has not reached Antique after 36 months?

That tells me that either PhilRice must do more technology transfer work, or some farmers insist on their own technology!@517