Hybrid rice seeds bring bumper harvests for Agusan del Sur farmers

STA. JOSEFA, AGUSAN DEL SUR—For many years, farmer Nilo Dalid had resigned himself to modest returns from his 1.2-hectare (ha) farm in Barangay Concepcion in this town, usually hauling in an average of 76 bags of palay each cropping season. This cropping cycle, however, shattered that ceiling.

On Oct. 23, Dalid took in a record harvest of 116 bags of palay weighing some 7.8 metric tons (MT) or 7,888 kilograms—a sharp 52-percent surge in yield that took center stage during the local harvest festival, offering a compelling case for the potential of hybrid rice technology in the province, the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Caraga (Region 13) reported. 

“I’m overjoyed because my harvests hit 116 bags on just 1.2 hectares, far higher than the 76 bags I used to get,” Dalid said in the vernacular, citing the vital role of government-supplied agri-inputs and agronomic guidance. 

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Alvin Asuncion, a staff member of DA-Caraga Regional Director engineer Ricardo Oñate Jr., said that Dalid’s yield earned him a gross income of P165,645, at P21 per kg wet farm-gate price. 

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Based on dried industry estimates, his plot would yield 5.6 MT per ha of palay, surpassing the national average of 4.1 MT per ha.

Partnership

The harvest festival showcase was part of a 100-ha model farm established through a partnership between DA-Caraga and the Sayon Awao, Concepcion Irrigators Association, Inc. 

Rolled out under the DA’s Masagana Rice Industry Development Program (MRIDP), the initiative supplied participating smallholders with high-yield hybrid seed varieties, specialized fertilizers and technical assistance to stress-test modern varieties under actual field conditions. 

The setup allowed neighboring growers to observe tangible gains on actual ground rather than relying on experimental claims, the agency noted.

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The turnaround was not isolated to Dalid’s farm, as robust figures also poured in across the cluster of 12 farmer-cooperators.

Romeo Frondoza hauled in an initial 794 bags averaging up to 70 kg each in a partial harvest across his 16.15-ha landholding, while Elmo Flores gathered 303 bags from 3.47 ha.

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Lucia Tasic recorded 277 bags on 2.87 ha, Jonatha Tajan turned in 240 bags from 2.2 ha and Jeny Mae Caspillo logged 212 bags on 2.31 ha.

The productive run extended through other smaller holdings, with other farmers harvesting partially or fully between 90 and 211 bags from 0.85 to 3.08 ha of farmland.

Addressing the irrigators’ group, Francis Irene Limbaga, MRIDP alternate focal person, urged farmers not to view government support as a one-off windfall, but as productive leverage for future cropping seasons.

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Limbaga encouraged association members to treat the interventions as working capital to sustain output spikes and safeguard long-term household earnings. INQ