DA Cordillera sustains organic entity of heirloom rice

September 3, 2017 Community Billboard

The Department of Agriculture Cordillera through its Heirloom Rice Project (HRP) in partnership with Agriculture Training Institute pushes for the preservation of the organic entity of Cordillera’s very own heirloom rice through the training on Integrated Nutrient and Pest Management for Heirloom Rice Growers last August 23 and 24.
Heirloom rice growers in Benguet, Kalinga, Ifugao and Mt. Province were equipped with technologies and knowledge on integrated nutrient and pest management to improve their heirloom rice production and post-production practices.
“There must be balance among natural organisms in the field,” explains Jerry Batcagan, PhilRice research specialist. He pointed out that Insect Pest Management is an ecologically- based pest control strategy that relies heavily on natural mortality factors and weather. He added that control by natural enemies (biological control) is cheap, effective, and nondisruptive of other elements of the ecosystem.
Batcagan elaborated that the presence of few individuals of insects in the field does not indicate that they are inflicting damage that may result in significant grain yield reduction and does not necessarily constitute a pest problem. When species population is higher than normal, then they can be considered as pests.
Furthermore, bio-fermentation, which is a widely accepted practice for organic practitioners, was also introduced.
The project intends to register heirloom rice products within the region as organically produced for value addition purposes and make most of the common rice technologies developed or extended to producers conform with organic standards. Thus, the need to introduce the organic way of nutrient and pest management to heirloom rice producers to improve their production without losing the common image of heirloom rice. Jenny M. Dayao / ABN