For many rice farmers in Dolores, every planting season comes with uncertainty due to unpredictable weather conditions, pests, diseases, and rising production costs. These factors often determine whether their months of hard work will result in a good harvest or a financial setback. However, with the recent launch of the Rice Derby in their locality, rice farmers are seeing a new opportunity to make better decisions and improve their yields through the new planting practices and technologies introduced to them.
For the farmer-cooperators participating in the project, the Rice Derby represents a chance to increase productivity while reducing the risks associated with changing weather patterns and high production costs.
Farmer-cooperator Erlinda Palconit said that participating in the Rice Derby is both an honor and a learning experience. โ๐๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ถ๐จ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ข๐ฑ๐ช ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ช๐จ-๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ณ๐ข ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ต ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐จ-๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข. ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ-๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ข๐จ๐ช ๐ข๐ฏ ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ-๐ช๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐จ-๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข,โ Palconit shared.
[What I have observed in our area is that the private companies participating in the Rice Derby are sharing technologies that can be adopted by farmers. These companies are introducing a wide range of farming methods and technologies to help improve agricultural practices.]
She also noted that the activity will help encourage farmers to become more open to improved farming practices that can increase productivity while reducing unnecessary expenses.
โ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ฌ๐๐ต๐ ๐๐ฐ ๐จ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐๐ข ๐ช๐ก๐ถ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ช๐๐ช๐๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐ต๐ โ๐ช๐๐ช ๐ฏ๐๐ข ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ท๐ฆ๐๐ฃ๐ฆ โ๐ข ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐-๐ข๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฏ ๐ข๐ ๐๐ข๐-๐๐ฃ๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐๐ฏ ๐จ๐๐ด๐ก๐ฐ๐ โ๐ข ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ข๐-๐ข๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ถ๐๐จ๐๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐๐ฏ ๐ง๐๐ณ๐ก๐ช๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ๐,โ she added.
[I also believe that the Rice Derby will help reduce production costs for us farmers, particularly in light of the rising cost of fertilizer.]
Nerio Opeรฑa, JISA President and fellow farmer-cooperator, shared that certain farming practices and techniques were introduced to them before the planting season started, which differ from what they have done in the past.
โ๐๐ข ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ, ๐ด๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ช๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ช ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ด๐ข ๐จ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐จ-๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ช๐บ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข-๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ด๐ข-๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ด๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฃ๐ข ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฉ๐ช๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ข๐จ๐ช ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช ๐บ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช ๐ด๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ข ๐จ๐ช๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฌ๐ด๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ,โ Nerio shared.
[For me, as I have told my fellow farmer-cooperators, one of the biggest challenges is adapting to the new technologies that private companies are introducing to individual farmers. These are different from the traditional methods of rice cultivation that we have long been accustomed to. However, with this Rice Derby, we need to follow these new practices so that we can see their impact on our rice production.]
โ๐๐ด๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ถ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ต๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐บ๐ข-๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐บ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ฅ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ช๐บ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข 20๐ค๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐บ 15๐ค๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐บ๐ข-๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐บ๐ข (๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ), ๐ฅ๐ช๐ณ๐ช ๐ด๐ถ๐จ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ช๐ด๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฌ. ๐๐จ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ-๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ข๐ข๐จ๐ช-๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ต๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ข ๐จ๐ช๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ-๐ข๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐จ๐ช๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฌ๐ด๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ท๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ข๐จ ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ,โ he added.
[One of the things we learned and were taught was to plant rice in straight rows, using a spacing of 20 centimeters by 15 centimeters. Unlike before, when we transplanted seedlings without a uniform pattern, this method provides space to pass through the field when it’s time to apply fertilizer and helps ensure more balanced rice growth. Aside from this planting method, we were also encouraged to use a combination of fertilizers to help ensure higher yields, in addition to the improved rice seed variety that was provided to us.]
โ๐ธ๐น๐๐ช๐ก๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ช ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐๐ฐ ๐ช๐ก๐ถ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ช๐๐ช๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ต๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐๐ข ๐ฏ๐๐ข ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ต๐๐ฏ๐๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ช๐ก๐ช๐๐ฐ ๐จ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ข๐๐จ๐๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ณ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ ๐บ๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐๐บ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ ๐๐จ-๐ข๐๐ฅ๐๐ฑ๐ก ๐๐ข ๐ฏ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฏ ๐ช๐ก๐ถ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ช๐-๐ก๐ถ๐ก๐ฅ๐,โ Nerio said.
[We are eager to see the outcome of this cropping season and remain optimistic that our rice yield will improve as we adopt the farming methods introduced to us.]
As the demonstration plots mature toward harvest, farmers eagerly anticipate comparing grain quality, resistance to pests and diseases, and total yield per hectare. Ultimately, the launch of the Rice Derby in Dolores, Eastern Samar, will help strengthen the provinceโs rice industry through innovation and collaboration.