Hybrid Rice Seed Producer Promotes Alternative Farming Techniques

SeedWorks Philippines, a private hybrid rice seeds producer is promoting an alternative farming technique to help the Philippines’ food production and for more efficient rice farming.

In Barangay Cabatling, Malasiqui and in Barangay Nelintap, San Carlos, the company opened a dry-direct seeding technology rice farms.

According to SeedWorks, the alternative farming techniques they use are very fit for their high-yielding and versatile rice variety of TH-82 Tatag hybrid.

Carlos Saplala, SeedWorks President, said, “Through this field demo, we want every farmer to realize that growing hybrid rice may not require spending more. By using SeedWorks’ TH-82 hybrid rice variety, farmers can still get high yield while spending less in production cost using dry-direct seeding technology,”

The rice farming demonstration would show the TH082 variety’s reliability in producing higher yields for farmers while importantly lowering the production costs of rice farming like labor and irrigation.

Dry-direct seeding is a rice-planting technique intended to tackle water insufficiency in deficient areas or uplands and irrigation-challenged areas. This would also be perfect for farming during drought seasons.

With this rice-farming technique, the seeds of rice are sown directly in the soil. The entire process would lessen costs of labor since puddle-transplant or wet-sow rice planting is not included says the company.

The dry-direct seeding technology of SeedWorks comes after President Marcos, who also currently is filling the role as the head of the Department of Agriculture, is calling for increased production planting season to reach the country’s food demands with the threat of an emerging food crisis.

Source: Philstar