“Diyak pati diyak kita” (to see is to believe).
A line often uttered by local farmers in the face of new farming technologies. However, despite the reluctance, Mr. Jaime Tallongon opted to capitalize on various opportunities to improve his farming practices. Through his adoption of the rice drum seeder and integration of the PalayCheck System, his usual harvest of 100 cavans per hectare during the dry season increased to an average of 135 cavans per hectare.
“Narigat ti agayab ti agraep tattan, ken nu adda man ti maayaban tatta ket nangina ti singir da” (It’s hard to call for farmworkers who will assist in transplanting rice seedlings nowadays, and even if there are, their charge for labor is high), Tallongon admitted. With this, his adoption of rice drum seeder significantly helped him reduce labor time and workforce requirement in his farm operations.
Mr. Tallongon was known to be the first rice farmer graduate of the Farmer Field School (FFS) who employed rice drum seeder in their community.
Mr. Tallongon in brief
Mr. Tallongon is a 52-year-old inbred rice farmer from Ipil, Tabuk City, Kalinga. He manages a one hectarage of rice farm which serves as the source of income of the family.
In 2019, he learned about Bacayan's Rice-Based Integrated Farm, which offered a free learning course on the production of high-quality inbred rice, seed certification, and farm mechanization through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program (RCEP). With a strong desire to stay up-to-date with new technologies and farming practices in rice cultivation, he enrolled in the course and completed various modules.
The FFS made him realize that farming is evolving overtime and innovations are changing the way farmers grow rice. After completing the training, he went back to his farm full of eagerness to employ the technologies he learned from the training. One of which is the utilization of rice drum seeder with the integration of palay check system.
This rice drum seeder is a manually operated, all metal seeders made of light gauge metal tubing. Its simple design makes its fabrication low-cost and with low power requirements. A single person can operate the seeder to enable seeding of pre-germinated rice seeds in straight rows in the field, making it easier during weeding and fertilizer application. This enables the farmer to plant seeds in rows parallel to transplanting.
At first, when they spotted him pulling the two wheeled orange barrels in the rice field, other farmers poke fun of him. More so when the rice seeds had already begun to sprout revealing a wider spacing contrary to the usual practice. “Sayang dagita bakante nga spaces” (those unused spaces, not utilized are such a waste), they would quip.
Despite this, he continued using the technology. “Nu nasedsed ti panag mula ket ulmogen gayam” (if the planting is dense, it increases number of planthoppers) he said. The drum seeder allowed him to plant in straight rows following the recommended planting distance of rice. As proven by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), following this proper spacing can increase the yield by 25−40% over improper spacing.
Now, his neighbors started asking how he did it - some are asking why his crop is planted in straight rows. When people asked him, he shows a video of him using the drum seeder. More and more farmers became curious about the technology and some of his neighbors have already started adopting the drum seeder when sowing seeds.
Usual vs. changed practice
Like most of the farmers, Mr. Tallongon learned his farming practices from his parents. “No anya dagiyay nakitkitak ken insursuro dagiti nagannak ko idi iti panagtalon ket isu en ti sinursorot ko nga wagas” (my practices in rice farming are combination of what my parents taught me and what other farmers in the community have been doing), he shared.
Since then, he has followed a seeding rate of six bags or 120 kilograms for his one hectare rice farm Also, he deploys five man per day to assist him in his farm works. Both the seeding rate practice and labor requirement incurred him a total cost of P7,450.00.
Such practice has been the traditional way of most farmers in their area. In his mind, the more seeds sown the more the harvest. However, comparing to what he was taught, his seeding rate is twice as much as the recommended amount of 20-40 kilograms per hectare for transplanted or 40-60kg per hectare for direct wet seeded rice.
“Edi nalpas day training ket kunak nga epadas koman day naisuro kanyami. Esunga napan ko kinasao ni maam Lumas-i ta no bulodek uno rentaak day drum seeder. Ket diay pinagsabay ko day drum seeder ken day keycheck nga naisuro.” (After the training, I decided to try and employ the technologies taught to us. I decided to talk to Ma’am Lumas-i to borrow or rent their drum seeder. I used the drum seeder and also integrated the key checks taught), Mr. Tallongon recalled.
He tried to lessen his seeding rate with 3 bags or 60 kilograms. From five, he only deployed three people to assist him in his rice field. This allowed him to incur an amount of P3,950.00 pesos only allowing him to save an average amount of P3,500.00 per hectare for seeding rate and labor.
Previously, he relied solely on estimations and hearsay from fellow farmers to determine the type, quantity, and timing of fertilizer application, resulting in an average expense of P11,620.00 per cropping season for four bags of 14-14-14, three bags of 16-20-0, and three bags of 46-0-0 fertilizers. However, after adopting the PalayCheck System's recommendations, he reduced his use of fertilizers. Based on the system's advice, he lowered his application of triple 14 fertilizer from four to three bags, and two bags each for 16-20-0 and urea. As a result, he was able to decrease his fertilizer application cost to P3,480.00 while still providing sufficient nutrients to achieve the crop's yield potential."
Uptake payoffs
“Edi naipadas kon mt ketdi piman day technology nga naisuro ket ada nagbaliwan na jay apit ken kita me. Dakel nga tulong metlang day panagbawas ko ti e apaplay ko nga fertilizer day panangbawas ko eti ben-i ken day strikto nga panangbantay ejay pagay tano makita no ada nga dagos ti napeste weno natamaan iti daduma nga sakit.” (When I applied the technologies introduced to us, our yield and income increased. Lessening my fertilizer application and seeding rate was a big help. Also, strict monitoring of the rice field is very essential to early detect pest and disease infestation).
In his traditional practice, Mr. Tallongon only accumulates a net income of Php 35,500.00 pesos during dry season and Php 14,500.00 pesos on wet season giving him an annual net income of 50,000.00 pesos.
During the dry season, Mr. Tallongon can harvest an average of 100 cavans per hectare, with each cavan weighing at least 50 kilograms. Selling at P15.00 per kilogram, he earns a gross income of P75,000.00. Meanwhile, in the wet season, he can harvest an average of 90 cavans per hectare (with the same weight per cavan) sold at 12 pesos per kilogram, giving him a gross income of P54,000.00. However, to produce these yields, he spends an inclusive cost of farm inputs, labor, pesticides, and other materials amounting to P39,500 per cropping season
Upon the integration of the technology there was a noticeably change in yield and income. He was able to harvest 135 cavans sold at P16.00 per kilogram during the dry season; and 150 cavans sold at P14.50 per kilogram during the wet season. His production expense amounted to Php 37,220.00 and P35,720.00 for dry and wet season, respectively giving him an annual income of P122,060.
In addition, the water management that he learned through the FFS greatly contribute to his success in lessening his production cost. He said that following proper water management solved problems on snails and weeds therefore eliminating additional labor and inputs in controlling this problem.
The increased income after the training is attributed to high yield through use of certified seeds from RCEF, reduction of cost from fertilizers, reduction of labor and seeding rate for the use of drum seeder technology and higher selling price of fresh palay.
“Money saved from the production cost is a great help to finance other family expenses and my children’s school expenses” he stated.
Jaime has been continually using drum seeder for almost three years while unconsciously changing perspectives within his community.
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