Mindoro hybrid rice farmers receive cash, other awards

MANILA, Philippines - The name of a rice farmer from Calapan, Oriental Mindoro was added to the long list of SL Agritech Corp.’s successful hybrid rice farmers who have scored unprecedented records in rice production.

Cathy Galura, SL Agritech vice president for operations, said 52-year-old Leandro Cantos of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, was selected by her firm as this year’s highest hybrid rice yielder for his production record this wet cropping season of 270 cavans per hectare.

Cantos, who received P30,000 cash award from SL Agritech Corp., topped five other farmers in the province who participated in the hybrid rice production contest being sponsored nationwide by the seed firm.

Second placer was Ronnie Cayabyab of Bgy. Cabunang, Bulalacao, with a harvest of 243 cavans per hectare; Casiano Melgar of Bgy. Canubing, Calapan City, 235 cavans/hec.; Bernabe Malicsi of Brgy. Roma Mansalay, 226 cavans/hec; and Conrado Balmes, Brgy. Tinkan, Naujan, 211 cavans/hec. They also received cash prizes from SL Agritech, the country’s top producer of hybrid rice seeds.

The awarding ceremony was held at the Department of Agriculture (DA-ATI) office in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, with provincial agriculturist Pedro Dimailig as special guest.

Joh Dungca, SL Agritech promotions manager, said Cantos’ harvest when he first started to plant hybrid rice in 2005, was only 120 cavans per hectare.

Cantos used to harvest only 60 to 70 cavans per hectare when he was planting the inbred rice variety. So, when he harvested 120 cavans, Cantos was immediately convinced to go into hybrid rice farming which, according to him, has tremendously increased his yearly production which now averages 250 cavans per hectare.

Still number one in the SL Agritech’s list of top hybrid rice farmers is Severino Payumo, a 69-year-old farmer of Barangay Biliran in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, with a record harvest of 345.6 cavans per hectare. Next to him is lady farmer Aida Badong of San Nicolas, Camarines Sur, with 345 cavans per hectare; and Fernando Gabuyo, also of Nueva Ecija, with 335 cavans per hectare. 

The rest are rice farmers from Ilocos Norte, Cagayuan, Isabela, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Zamboanga del Sur, North Cotabato, Camarines Sur and Oriental and Occidental Mindoro. Their average production per hectare using the SL-8H hybrid rice seeds is 250 cavans.