DIGOS CITY – Argiculture officials had put up experimental farms in two Davao del Sur towns – using a variety of upland rice – in a bid to provide farmers in dry areas another alternative to produce.
Upland farmers here are used to planting corn and root crops.
Ernesto Miro, provincial agriculturist, said they did not intend to convince upland farmers to totally shift to rice planting.
“What we want is for them to have a good harvest and enjoy more income,” he said.
Miro said for a start, they established experimental farms in Barangay (village) Kiba-o in Matanao town and two others in Magsaysay town.
He said the variety used in the experimental farms needed less volume of fertilizer and that it could thrive even with a small amount of rain.
“For example, we used 10 bags of organic fertilizer and a bag of commercial fertilizer per hectare,” he said.
Miro said the rice was akin to the smell of the denorado variety, which is fragrant.
“But it is white while the denorado is brownish,” he said.
Miro said they were also aiming to make the experimental farms a show window to lowland rice farmers.
“We also want them to know that there is an alternative way of planting rice,” he said.
Orlando B. Dinoy, Inquirer Mindanao