SeedWorks Philippines is culminating its ‘Ang Hari sa Ani’ contest in the Davao Region with a simple ceremony recognizing participating farmers with the highest yields during the recent summer harvest season. This comes a few days after the company culminated a similar campaign in Central Luzon.
The agricultural research and technology firm handed over a brand new Ford Ranger XLS pickup as grand prize to Cesar Lumboy from Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte. The farmer-businessman harvested 12.432 tons per hectare of rice during the contest period. Each of the farmers with the second and third highest yields (Gideon Banez from Compostela, Davao de Oro and Estela Pablo from Asuncion, Davao del Norte, respectively) in the region brought home a brand new tricycle.
‘Ang Hari sa Ani’ is a rice-yield contest launched in September 2019 in Tagum City. It was open for qualified farmers using SeedWorks’ US-88. Every participating farmer planted at least a hectare of his land with the premium hybrid rice variety (sowing period was November to December and harvest was until April 2020 at latest).
Receiving the 3rd prize (in green) is Ms. Estela Pablo from Brgy. Camoning, Asuncion, Davao del Norte.
Aiming to inspire farmers
The simple awarding ceremony was held on July 31, 2020 at the Municipal Covered Court of Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte (under modified general community quarantine). Present in the small gathering were Sto. Tomas Mayor Ernesto Evangelista, Regional Executive Director Ricardo Onate of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Field Office-11, Engineer Elmer Degorio of Sto. Tomas Municipal Agriculture Office, Davao de Oro Provincial Rice Coordinator Jane Haom, Davao del Norte Provincial Rice Coordinator Engr. Leonilo Patayon, Regional Rice Focal Person Jacinto Macoy Jr, and Jose Andamon from the Public Attorney’s Office, Davao del Norte.
“We congratulate these farmers for making yields that are two to three times more than the national average,” said SeedWorks Philippines President Carlos Saplala. “SeedWorks has actively been advocating modernized technology and smarter ways for cultivating and harvesting high-quality rice. We hope we can inspire and motivate more farmers to do better by adopting the best practices in rice farming.”
Better farming practices
Aside from its resilience, US-88 also produces rice that is characterized with much better quality. The hybrid variety is known for its long grain and right softness that discerning consumers usually prefer. Furthermore, milling and head rice recovery is higher, compared to the usual premium rice varieties in the market.
The Davao Region is one of the prioritized rice-farming regions in Mindanao due to promising factors. In June 2020, the DA Region 11 announced government-backed initiatives that would boost rice production through adoption of modern farming techniques and provision of financial, enterprise, and organizational trainings to equip farmers to also be traders of their produce.