Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice), together with other public and private seed companies, has established technology demonstration farms on hybrid rice in support of the DA’s Rice Resiliency Project under the administration’s Plant, Plant, Plant Program.
This dry season, the Institute has established 19 techno-demo farms nationwide with a total area of 13ha showcasing the public hybrid rice Mestizo 1 or M1 (PSB Rc 72H) and Mestiso 20 or M20 (NSIC Rc 204H).
With 123-day maturity, M1 averages 5.4t/ha with a maximum yield of 9.9t/ha. M20 matures in 111 days, averages 6.4t/ha, and reaches a yield of 11.7t/ha.
DA-PhilRice is part of the 12th National Rice Technology Forum (NRTF) that showcases hybrid rice and other technologies in Cauayan City, Isabela. It also joined four provincial hybrid rice derbies in Laoag City and Marcos, llocos Norte; Santo Domingo, Ilocos Sur; and Santa Barbara, Pangasinan.
It also helped put up eight hybrid rice techno-demo farms at the Tarlac Agricultural University in Camiling; Central Luzon State University in Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija; Quirino State University in Diffun; Isabela State University in Echague; Nueva Vizcaya State University in Bayombong; and Cagayan State University in Piat, Sanchez Mira, Gonzaga.
Six hybrid techno-demo farms are established in the Institute’s stations in Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Albay, Negros Occidental, North Cotabato, and Agusan del Norte.
