The Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office 8, in collaboration with PLGU-Leyte, MLGU-Hilongos, NIA-8, and private seed companies launched the first Provincial Hybrid Rice Cluster Farm (PHRCF) on June 22 in Brgy. Tabunok, Hilongos, Leyte.
The Provincial Hybrid Rice Cluster Farm aims to showcase hybrid rice production and promote farmers’ adoption of new rice farming technologies. The PHRCF also aims to integrate the clustering approach for production, harvesting, processing, and marketing.
For this Dry Season covering the March-September 2022 cropping period, the Hilongos-Tabunok Irrigators’ Association was selected as the partner farmer group, while 11 seed companies shall be participating, namely, Aljay, TAO, Syngenta, Bioseed, Leads Agri, Corteva, SL AgriTech, Longping, PhilRice, Bayer, and SeedWorks.
Regional Executive Director Angel C. Enriquez graced the said activity together with Regional Technical Director Larry U. Sultan and other staff of the regional office.
Also present during the launching ceremony were Municipal Mayor Albert R. Villahermoso; Alberto Amarilla Jr., assistant provincial agriculturist of Leyte; Dr. Nenita Sultan, OPA-Leyte provincial rice program coordinator; Uldarico Amihan, regional chief of the National Seed Quality Control Service; and Elma P. Oja, municipal agriculturist.
Aside from the launching ceremony, the New Hope Corporation based in Davao City demonstrated the use of drone technology on farm seeding.
The PHRCF is a collaborative effort of the national government, provincial and municipal local government units, and private sector through co-implementation and co-investment in service delivery for the agriculture sector. Its implementation started during the Dry Season of 2021-2022 and shall be continued every cropping season. It shall require a minimum area for the cluster farm site of 100 hectares for provinces under RCEF, while 50 hectares for non-RCEF provinces. The technologies to be showcased include the hybrid rice varieties, crop establishment, farm mechanization, and nutrient management. (DA-RFO VIII, RAFIS)