“To be better than I used to be not to be better than anyone else” claims Emily Palad on continuously utilizing walk behind transplanter in her one-hectare rice paddies.
Venturing to new technologies, Ms. Palad was able to accumulate at least 43 percent increase in her rice production. Since 2020, she consistently used walk behind transplanter in the operation of her rice fields. Aside from the machinery, she also integrates crop establishment, palay key checks one to eight, water saving technology, integrated pest management and conducts Agro-Ecosystem Analysis. These practices still don’t limit her to explore other good practices that would help her attain a higher yield and income.
Transitioning to modern type of farming was a little bit challenging on her part since she got to hear a lot of judgements from her neighbors. “There are times that my neighbors would laugh at me, and sometimes older generations scold me since they observed that my spacing per hill is too wide, telling me that I am wasting the spaces of my fields”.
True enough, she still decided to implement what she learned during the Farmer Field School since she knew that this would benefit her.
Her farming expedition
Ms. Emily Palad is a 45-year-old rice farmer from Maledda, Ipil, Tabuk City, Kalinga. A graduate of BS Commerce who manages a one hectare of rice field which assist her family in their day-to-day living.
After finishing her bachelor’s degree, she wasn’t able to land a job both in a government and private agency for she has to take care of her family. She is a full-time mother and at the same time assists her husband in their farm activities which kicked off her farming journey.
“I decided to continue farming uray nu ada trabaho ni lakay ko ijy NIA (National Irrigations Administration) ta jay sweldo na ket mapan iti tuition dagiti ubing ken mausar dagiti daduma nga kasapulan iti uneg ti balay. Kas maysa nga asawa kt isu met iti contribution ko kanyana tapnu haan koma nga amin nga kanen ket gatangen, isu nga adda metlang bassit nga garden ko nga pangalaan iti nateng. (I pursued farming even if my husband is currently employed at the NIA to assist him with some of our family needs since his monthly income will only be good for the tuition fee of our children and some for household needs. As a wife, I thought of supporting my husband by doing home gardening to provide food for our family and at the very least we won’t be buying everything at the market”.
The one-hectare land is entrusted to her husband’s family in 2003. Since then, her husband handled all farm activities. Her responsibilities as a wife and mother is to do the chores and look after their kids.
In 2019, her husband got the opportunity to work at National Irrigation Administration (NIA) as a welder. With the good work opportunity, it was Ms. Emily who took charge of their rice farm. Back then, farming practice is based on observations and testimonies of other farmers.
With her passion and eagerness to improve her agricultural knowledge and skills and be informed about the latest technologies and farming techniques in rice cultivation, she looked for free trainings and learning courses that would suffice her need. Luckily, she got a family friend, Mrs. Angie Lumas-i, operator of Bacayan’s Integrated Farm School that offers a free learning course on producing top-notch inbred rice under Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program (RCEP).
With this, in the second semester of 2019, she was invited by her friend to attend the said learning course, without any doubt she accepted the offer. The Farmer Field School is designed to train farmers on various topics such as pest and disease management, soil fertility and water resource management, local varietal selection and purification, farm mechanization, marketing, record keeping, and financial literacy.
Learnings as an investment for a brighter opportunity
Participating in the FFS commenced her eyes to the ever-budding nature of farming and how technologies are reforming rice cultivation. Brimming with enthusiasm, she decided to adopt and implement the cutting-edge technologies she had learned. Ms. Palad adopted the walk behind transplanter, integrated crop establishment, palay key checks one to eight, water saving technology, integrated pest management and conducted Agro-Ecosystem Analysis.
“Idi nagusar ak ti transplanter ket adu met t nagsayaatan na. Nalaklaka ti panag abono, panag spray ta adda space nga pagnaan nga awan ti madadael mu nga mula. Ken napansin ko nga mas mayat diyay naimula nga nausar ti transplanter ta awan unay ti ulmog na ta mayat gayam nu nalawag ken adda iti pag rikusan ti angin iti aglawlaw ti mula ta haan nga pagbalayan t ulmog wennu plant hopper. (When I used the walk-behind transplanter, it provided me with lots of benefits. It facilitated the easy application of fertilizers and pesticides. I also noticed that implementing wider spacing effectively prevented our crops from being attacked by brown plant hoppers and impeded their ability to establish habitats between the hills).”
Seedlings that are transplanted using a transplanter recover more quickly than seedlings that are manually planted, she added.
On her traditional practice, she uses a 55 kg of seeds in her one-hectare rice field, but after the FFS, her seeding rate decreased to 40 kilograms. Also, the course gave her knowledge on the proper fertilizer application. In fertilizer application it is important to apply this "EAT", where E stands for applying the right ELEMENT, A for the right AMOUNT and T for the right TIMING. All these three (3) should be considered when applying fertilizers which are important in specific growth phases.
Prior to the training, Ms. Palad has recorded an average harvest of 215 bags of fresh palay weighing 50 kilograms each for two cropping seasons. She was able to achieve a gross income of P172,000.00. However, the expenses incurred throughout the year in her rice production venture amounted to a significant sum of ₱80,000.00. These expenses were on fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, and seeds. A notable portion, equivalent to 27.5 percent of the total expense, was allocated towards compensating laborers involved in the task of pulling and transplanting rice seedlings. Additionally, 32 percent of the total expense covered land preparation and harvesting fees. Despite the initial success, the net income for the year (two croppings) amounted to only P92,000.00.
Ms. Palad’s embracing the transformative technologies and innovative methods through the FFS, resulted to a remarkable change in rice yield and income. After attending the course, her gross income increased to P196,000.00, accompanied by a substantial decrease in farm expenses, amounting to P64,000.00. The adoption of a mechanical transplanter, specifically the walk-behind transplanter, played a crucial role in reducing operational expenses and maximizing profitability for Ms. Palad. By utilizing the walk-behind transplanter for efficient transplanting, she was able to significantly decrease several production expenses, including labor, fuel, and land preparation, while also experiencing an increase in yields.
The integration of the walk-behind transplanter into her farming practices resulted in a streamlined and more cost-effective transplanting process, reducing the need for manual labor. This reduction in labor costs, coupled with the optimization of fuel usage and the efficient preparation of the land, contributed to the overall reduction in operational expenses.
Consequently, the combination of increased yields and savings in farm expenses allowed Ms. Palad to achieve an impressive net income of P132,000.00. The adoption of the walk-behind transplanter not only led to a significant boost in productivity but also had a direct impact on reducing costs associated with pesticides, fertilizers, and labor.
“No ada ti makita ti kakadwa nga farmers nga e-ad-adopt mo nga technology ejay farm mo ket ada nga ada ti maibaga da. Haan nga maiwasan dayta. Ti farmer gamin ket nu anya ti indak dakkelan da nga pamay-an ti panagtalon kt isu ti epapati da nga aramiden (When encountering farmers who have yet to embrace new agricultural technologies, they always seem to have something to say. It is inevitable. Majority of farmers in our community still adhere to traditional farming practices, as it is what they have been implementing for a long time).”
Farmers usually adopt to innovations when they have seen excellent outcomes from other farmers who have been using the technology. Ms. Palad shared, "I, too, had my doubts at first with the planting distance and the lesser number of seedlings per hill, but I chose to give it a try". The fear of being criticized motivated her to better manage and improve her farm.
Ms. Palad encourages her fellow farmers to try employing and benefit from rice farm machineries, which was developed to lower their production costs and increase their productivity and profitability.
// Esjay M. Zausa and Jaypee D. Na-oy
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