VOL. VIII NO. 1 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY SL AGRITECH CORP. ENERO-PEBRERO 2014

DA now pushing hybrid rice

Pages 8

SL aligns with DA's Rice Sufficiency

ProgramPages 11

SL gives seed aid to typhoon battered Leyte

Page 6

Ang Magic ng Hybrid Rice

(Turn to page 7)

SL Agritech Corp. (SLAC) has expanded the market for its popular Doña Maria premium

NEW EXPORT DESTINATIONS FOR SLAC'S DOÑA MARIA RICE

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rice, making a fresh shipment to Dubai and a maiden shipment to US in the last quarter of 2013.

SLAC also shipped early in February to Oman, gaining foot-hold in the Middle East.

(Turn to page 7)

Brisk sales for Doña Maria rice in China

In a country that produces around 200 million metric tons (MT) of rice per year, the Philippines' own Doña Maria Premium Jasponica and Miponica Rice were fully sold out at an exhibition in Nanning, China.

The Doña Maria Rice sold off its entire stock of 1,000 kilos in a record time of only four hours.

It emerged as competing fairly well with prized Thai Jasmine and other premium rice of the world. The Doña Maria rice is in itself considered a world-class rice developed in the Philippines by SL Agritech Corp.

Doña Maria rice will be sold in leading supermarkets in these countries.

Through its exports, SLAC helped the Philippines exceed its export target of 400 metric tons (MT) of premium rice.

The 100MT export to Dubai, made during the last quarter of 2013, would be distributed via a big international retail chain and is expected to become a regular export volume to cater to the de-mand of overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East country.

The send-off was led by De-partment of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Dante S. Delima at the Talavera warehouse in Nueva

SLAC Assistant to the Chairman Michelle Lim-Gankee (2nd from left) poses for a send-off photo with Agriculture Undersecre-tary Dante Delima (extreme left). Joining them (from left ) are Nueva Ecija Provincial Agriculturist Serafin Santos, rice Farmer Leader Ricardo Buenaventura and Agriculture Consultant Santiago Obien.

Chinese customers showed strong interest in Doña Maria rice products during a recent trade show in Nanning, China.

FRESH SHIPMENT TO DUBAI, US, OMAN

GINTONG BUTIL2

STAFF

MELODY AGUIBAEditor

JOH E. DUNGCA Managing Editor

Contributing Writers:Rudy A. Fernandez

Jivin RelatoPhotographer

Carmina CruzGraphic Artists

Gintong Butil is published bi-monthly by SL Agritech Corp., a division of Sterling Group of Companies, with editorial andbusiness offices at 2302 Sterling Place, Pasong Tamo Ext.,

Makati City. Telefax No. 810-1604

Conrad CariñoAnselmo Roque

Real Danger

ENERO-PEBRERO 2014

More than five years ago, the National Food Authority (NFA) has formulated a program that it thought would help poor rice farmers.

The Farmers as Importers Program (FIP) turned out to be the very tool that would make farmers a victim by government’s doing.

Importation is obviously damaging to farmers’ welfare as competitive farmers of the world like those from Vietnam dump cheaper imports here, pulling price down to the farmers’ detriment.

The FIP was supposed to allow farmers to gain some profit from the act of importation.

In such supposedly necessary act in order to stabilize local rice supply while ensuring that farmers are protected, the NFA allowed farmers’ cooperatives to import.

Sadly, the FIP program was not backed by financing support. As rice im-portation requires huge amount of money in millions of dollars, traders took advantage of the opportunity to make money from the FIP, initially appearing to be in a legal manner.

The legitimacy of farmers availing of the program has become questionable. It led to serious questions of integrity of the FIP precisely because there is a clear loophole in the way it was crafted on day one—the absence of a financing facility.

The opportunity to smuggle has become huge as the import permits availed of under FIP became a constant opportunity to dump cheap rice from abroad through recycling of the import permits.

Now the problem of recycling import permits is never new. It has been done over and over again in the smuggling cases of vegetables—onions, carrots, among others.

No government system has so far solved that import permit recycling problem.

Quantitative Restrictions in questionThe danger for Filipino rice farmers to further sink in the mire of poverty

is real with sectors lobbying the release of rice that are obviously shipped under illegal positions.

The importation made by Starcraft International Trading Corp. (SITC) of 167 containers of rice happened on the premise that the quantitative restriction (QR) in the Philippines has already been lifted.

Unfortunately, such disinformation was the basis for which the Davao Re-gional Trial Court (RTC) issued its decision to allow the release of the clearly smuggled rice.

The decision exposes absence of coordination between executive, legislative, and judiciary arms of government in a policy that is crucial to the livelihood of millions of Filipino rice farmers.

Alyansa Agrikultura Chief Ernesto Ordoñez said an immediate danger in the

Davao RTC decision is its precedence for the release of 2,000 other containers of smuggled rice.

In relation to Alyansa Agrikultura’s pronouncement, the Bureau of Customs has released a statement that it will contest court orders not only from Davao but similar court orders from Manila and Batangas.

Reconsidering rice importation policiesThe government’s policy on QR as deliberated under Philippines' World trade

Organization membership position is evidently one of the most important policies any legal institution should be well-versed on.

It puts a cap on how much gap in rice supply the country has and subsequently how big it should import.

Initially, the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) position was to strictly limit the rice volume that may be imported under the QR regime in order to protect farmers.

DA had programmed that rice importation in 2014 would be totally elimi-nated considering that it was boasting of only 187,000 metric tons (MT) of rice importation in 2013. It said this volume was far lower than the two million MT level imported by the country in 2008. That rice import volume demonstrates we must be too close to rice self sufficiency.

However, over the last few weeks, DA Sec. Proceso Alcala hinted the zero importation may no longer be viable in 2014.

“Iniisip kasi natin dati ay kapag na-attain na ang sufficiency, walang importa-tion totally. Pero paano ma-hit mo pa yan sa huli e kailangan ng supply sa lean months. (Before we were thinking of zero importation once rice sufficiency is attained. But how can you do that if we need rice in the lean months?)” said Alcala in a press briefing in January.

As a substitute to smuggling, legal importation is again being considered in order to enable government to fulfill its mandate to ensure stable supply.

More than 10 years ago, the Arroyo Administration envisioned in 2001 rice sufficiency by 2004 through hybrid rice production. Such rice sufficiency aim remains to be elusive.

One of the reasons must be because instead of financing rice production, government is looking at financing short-term need.

There is the immediate need for people to be fed. But the long term vision is lacking. The dream to export rice is forgotten in times of crisis. GB

SLAC Chairman Dr. Henry Lim talks about his experience in the development of hybrid rice in the Philippines on a talkshow aired by Chinese government-run China Central Television. He is recognized by Chinese press as an entrepreneur who risked his own life for the propagation of hybrid rice for the benefit of mankind. The main guest of the show was Prof. Yuan Long Ping (bottom) known as 'The Father of Hybrid Rice' and considered a national treasure in China.

LET'S TALK ABOUT RICE

GINTONG BUTIL 3

Ano ang ibig sabihin ng hybrid rice?

Ang hybrid rice ay resulta ng pinag-cross o pinag-asawa na dalawang klase ng palay na lalaki at babae. Kinuha ang kombinasyon ng magagandang katangian ng magulang. Kaya mas maganda at mas maraming kanais-nais na katangian ang anak kaysa alinman sa magu-lang.

Saan nanggaling ang mga hybrid rice ng SL Agritech Corp.?

Originally, may klase ng hybrid na nanggaling sa China, pero alam natin na ang China ay malamig na bansa na kapag itinanim mo ay hindi angkop sa Pilipinas.

Ang Pilipinas ay isang tro-pical country kaya kailangang ilahi o i-cross mo sa isang uri ng palay sa ating bansa na magbibigay ng magandang uri ng bigas, mataas na ani at bagay sa ating klima. Iyon ang nangyari sa hybrid ng SL Agritech Corp. Pinagsama ang hybrid na galing China na maraming butil kada uhay, berde ang dahon, mataas umani, at ang Pilipinong uri ng palay na bagay sa mataas sa temperatura at matibay sa tag-ulan. Nang pinagsama ang dalawang ito ay lumabas ang SL hybrid super varieties.

Matapos ito, ano pang ibang SL varieties ang lumabas?Sumunod na diyan ang 2 klase ng hybrid na Doña Maria Rice -- ang

tinatawag na Doña Maria Jasponica (SL-7H) at Miponica (SL-9H). Pero ang binhi ng mga ito ay hindi available sa commercial market. Ito ay ipinatatanim sa mga magsasaka sa ilalim ng contract growing na kung saan binibili lahat ng kumpanya ang ani sa magandang presyo.

Sumunod ang SL-11H at mayroon pang SL-18H na kumpara sa SL-8H ay mas marami ang butil kada uhay (500) kumpara sa SL-8H (400 lang). Ang karaniwang inbred ay 150 grains lang ang butil kada uhay. Kaya makikita mo ang pagkakaiba.

Kumusta naman ang bigat at laki ng butil kumpara sa inbred?Mas mabigat ang timbang ng SL-8H at SL-18H kumpara sa inbred.

Ang isang libong butil ng inbred ay tumitimbang lang ng 23 grams kumpara sa 27-29 grams ng SL-8H at SL-18H. Kahit sa batayan na isang ektarya, ang dami at bigat ng butil ang nagbibigay ng mas mataas na ani kaysa inbred.

Sa Nueva Ecija, kung saan malawak ang tanim na hybrid rice, ang SL-8H ay nag-a-average ng 8 toneladang palay bawat ektarya kumpara sa inbred na 5 tonelada lang per hectare. Kaya ang isang magsasaka ay maaring kumita ng P100,000 sa isang ektarya, lalo na sa tag araw;

Ano naman ang pagkakaiba sa gastos ng gumagamit ng hybrid at inbred?

Sa gastos hindi kalakihan ang diperensiya. Magdaragdag ka lang

ANG MAGIC NG HYBRID RICE

ENERO-PEBRERO 2014

PANAYAM NG PANGKAT KAUNLARAN KAY DR. FRISCO MALABANAN

ng kaunting puhunan sa binhi at pataba. Pero kapag kinuha mo ang ka-buuang gastos, mas mataas ito ng P5,000 kada ektarya. Pero tingnan mo naman ang itinaas ng ani -- halos triple. Sulit na sulit ang idinagdag mo na kapital sa halaga ng binhi. Mahal bilhin ang binhing hybrid, kasi mas mahirap paramihin ang binhi ng hybrid kumpara sa inbred. Sa hybrid, meron kang dalawang magulang na pinag-aasawa --- ang female at male parents -- na kapag hindi sabay na namumulaklak may posibilidad na hindi ka makakapag-produce ng binhi.

Magiging ipa kasi kung hindi na-pollinate ang babae ng lalaking palay. Kaya may risk. Mas masusing pag-aaral ang kailangan kumpara sa seed production ng inbred.

Pero ikaw rin ang nagsabi na kapag hybrid ang gagamitin, mas kakaunting binhi ang kailangan.

Yan ang isa sa kabutihan ng hybrid. Para sa isang ektarya gagamit ka lang ng maximum na 20 kilo ng binhi na ipupunla, samantalang kung inbred ay kakailanganin ng 80-150 kilo. Ang ibig sabihin kahit mas mura ang inbred seeds marami ang gagamitin kumpara sa hybrid. Ang sobra ay pwede nang ipabigas at pangkain ng magsasaka sa halip na gamitin sa binhi. Mas makakatulong ito sa kasapatan sa pagkain. Mas marami naman ang ani sa hybrid.

Kung hybrid, karaniwan P4,000 - P4,800 ang kailangan mong binhi sa isang ektarya. Kung inbred ay P1200 kada isang sako, pero tatlong sako naman ang gagamitin mo--P3,600 na rin iyon. Kaya konti lang ang idaragdag mo para makapagpunla ka ng hybrid. Pagdating naman sa anihan lamang na lamang ka sa dami ng ani.

Bakit naiiba ang dami ng pataba na kailangan sa hybrid kumpara sa inbred?

Ang hybrid kasi ay mas malalaki ang katawan, malalapad ang dahon at mas mahahaba ang ugat. Mas marami rin itong butil kada uhay kaya mas marami ang kinakaing sustansya. Kaya kailangan dagdagaan mo ang pakain para ang lahat ng butil sa uhay ay magkalaman.

Para din yang nag-aalaga ka ng hayop. Kung malalaki ang alaga ay dapat mas marami ang patuka o pakain. Kung hindi ay magiging payat sila.

Sa isang ektarya ng hybrid rice gaano karami ang kailangang abono?

Ang ordinaryong magsasaka na nagtatanim ng inbred ay naglalagay lamang ng 3-5 sako ng abono. Siya ay umaani lamang ng 3.5-5 tons bawat ektarya. Samantalang ang nagtatanim naman ng hybrid ay nagla-lagay ng 5 - 8 bags ng abono. Umaani naman siya ng 8 -12 tons per hectare.

May pagkakaiba ba sa uri ng fertilizer na inilalagay? Walang pagkakaiba ang abono na ginagamit -- triple katorse, urea,

amonium sulfate at potassium (0-0-60), na nagpapabintog ng butil ng (Turn to page 7)

SLAC Chairman Dr. Henry Lim talks about the challenges in hybrid rice develop-ment in the Philippines and neighboring countries during a recent forum held at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna.

Dr. Frisco Malabanan

GINTONG BUTIL 5ENERO-PEBRERO 2014

SLAC MAKES FRESH EXPORT OF 500MT OF SEEDS TO VIETNAMSeed producer SL Agritech

Corp. (SLAC) made fresh export of 500 metric tons (MT) of hybrid rice seeds to Vietnam in the last quarter of 2013 that is giving livelihood to Filipino farmers even amid price-destabilizing rice smuggling cases.

The seed export is helping sus-tain the livelihood of Filipino farm-ers carrying out seed production at SLAC's seed farm in Banaybanay, Davao Oriental.

Moreover, the seed export shows Vietnam's continuing inter est to import high quality seeds from the Philippines.

"We have been exporting seeds to Vietnam for three years now--five croppings of alternating wet and dry season" said Dona T. Lim, SLAC Assistant Vice President for Opera-tions. 'They want our hy brid seeds because it's producing 10 tons."

The seed export, though, comes on the heel of rice smuggling cases in the Philippines for which SLAC has expressed concern.

"Our company has never im-ported rice as this is a way of depriving our local farmers," said SLAC Chairman Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong. He asserts policies against rice smuggling should be strictly enforced.

"Smuggled rice competes with our local farmers' production. Smuggled rice is not taxed. If it's taxed, we can compete with it," said Lim.

Lim stressed SLAC has been all-out in its support to promote Filipino-grown rice.

"Our Doña Maria rice is now

available in the US and the Middle East, placing our local rice brand in the world market. We have part-nered with one of the biggest retail outlets in Europe to promote our rice," Lim said.

SLAC's Doña Maria rice ex-port is part of the Department of Agriculture's program to boost Philippines' rice export potential for high quality rice.

Vietnamese importer, Dai Thanh Jointstock Co., a private firm, has been importing seeds from SLAC, having found SL-8H hybrid rice seeds to be doubling its rice yield.

SL-8H, known as GS9 in Viet-nam, gives a yield of around 10 MT per hectare, about double the four to five MT per hectare yield using conventional seeds.

"Due to the increasing demand of the hybrid rice seeds in Vietnam, Dai Than Jointstock Co. ventured to increase its hybrid rice seed production to 100 hectares from the 10-hectare pilot production last 2012," said Dona.

Countries importing seeds from the Philippines note of what they may consider as a special privilege to produce their own seeds us-ing Philippine-developed hybrids. SLAC assigns a technical expert on seed production to these countries at a rate of one expert for every 500 hectares of seed produc tion area.

For one, while Vietnam exports to the world rice for food consump-tion, it imports seeds from the Philippines. Vietnam is one of the world's largest rice exporters.

Inilunsad kamakailan lamang ng kumpanyang SL Agritech ang dalawang “promising hybrid rice varieties” sa pamamagitan ng demo trial sa probinsiya ng Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Palawan, Leyte, Mindoro at ibang parte ng Mindanao. Ang dala-wang hybrid rice varieties ay ang “SL-12H” at “SL-18H”.

Sa inisyal na demo ay umani ng mahigit 9 tons ang dalawang barayting ito. Sa Nueva Ecija ay nakapagtala ng ani na umabot sa 12 tons (o katumbas ng 240 cavans) ang SL-12H, samantalang umani naman ng 10 tons (o katumbas ng 200 cavans) ang SL-18H sa Palawan.

Ang dalawang barayting ito ay may laban sa BLB, matibay ang puno (lodging-resistant), maagang gumulang (early-maturing) at may bilang ng butil na 'di bababa sa 400 butil kada uhay.

--JOH DUNGCA

A Vietnamese once remarked, "You from the Philippines are fool-ish. How come you import from Viet nam when you're selling seeds to us?" she said.

Income from this seed sale, in turn, gives livelihood to Filipino farmers that produce the seed from SLAC's Davao Oriental farm.

SLAC's contract growing with farmers of Doña Maria rice allows farmers to plant high quality hybrid rice without shelling-out cash.

SLAC provides the seeds and inputs (fertilizers). SLAC also as-sures farmers of a stable market for their produce as it buys all rice production and at a price around P2 to P3 per kilo higher than market prices.

As the Philippines is again be-ing haunted by recurring smuggling problems, SLAC asserted its posi-tion on rice importation.

While cheap rice is being dumped illegally into the country, hurting Filipino farmers, SLAC declared it only imports rice seeds.

These are rice seeds for lo cal planting--not to be eaten or for home consumption.

This seed importation is grant-ed zero duty as inputs to agriculture is given zero duty as provided for by the Agriculture and Fisheries Mod-ernization Act or Republic Act 8435 in order to protect Filipino farmers.

"It is unfortunate a recent pub-lication classified rice and seeds together. Our company has been operating with the highest level of integrity and business ethical stan-dards. This is the platform from which we operate," said Lim.

And while SLAC imports seeds for planting (much as other multina-tional rice seed companies), SLAC is also carrying out seed production in other Asian countries in order to beef up its seed supply.

Its seed production farms are in Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. A seed production farm in Africa is in the pipeline.

SLAC Chairman Dr. Henry Lim was nominated as a finalist in the 2013 Asia CEO Awards. Awarding was held last Nov 14, 2013 at the Solaire Resorts and Casino.

Ang SL-18H (kaliwa) ay kayang umani ng 10MT kada ektarya. Ang SL-12H ay kayang umani ng 12MT kada ektarya.

SL-12H AT SL-18H: PROMISING HYBRID RICE

VARIETIES NA DAPAT ABANGAN!

GINTONG BUTIL6

A 2,000-hectare rice area in Yolanda Typhoon-damaged Leyte will be aided in the plant-ing of saline-tolerant hybrid rice seed SL-8H which can counter effects of salt water intrusion in rice lands.

In partnership with local gov-ernment units (LGU) particularly the Leyte Provincial Agriculture Office, SL Agritech Corp (SLAC) is extending a Plant Now Pay Later (PNPL) program to Leyte rice farmers.

“Leyte farmers now do not have the resources. We will provide the needed technical as-sistance to the farmers who expe-rienced damage to their rice farms from the Yolanda typhoon,” said SLAC Chairman Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong.

While SL-8H has long been proven to give farmers a yield increase of 30 to 100 percent, Lim said SL-8H is further rec-ommended in typhoon-damaged areas in Leyte due to its saline tolerance. At least around 10 kilo-

SLAC GIVES SEED AID TO TYPHOON-BATTERED LEYTE

meters of shore areas are identified to have been seriously affected by the typhoon, causing near-shore rice lands to be submerged in sea water.

Based on field trials, SL-8H

proved to have survived rice lands that have been intruded by sea wa-ter or salty water. But because of its saline-tolerance, it still gives a yield of around seven to 10 metric tons (MT) per hectare to farmers.

The Department of Agricul-ture (DA) and its regional field unit in Region 8 are identifying for SLAC farmers that may avail of the PNPL. The farmers may just pay for the seeds upon harvest.

Leyte Provincial Agricultur-ist Rogelio Portula said that while many organizations have donated rice seeds to Leyte province, there is still a need for more seeds and even for technical assistance on rice farming in order to restore Leyte to its pre-Yolanda condition.

“There are more rice seeds needed especially for farmers that have more than two hectares. We are only giving them free seeds for up to two hectares per farmer so that everybody will benefit,” said Portula. Among the organizations that donated seeds to Leyte are the Food and Agriculture Organiza-tion (FAO) and DA.

SLAC Hybrid Rice Special-ist Dr. Frisco M. Malabanan said SLAC’s aid to farmers will also focus on technology training since Leyte farmers would not have much difficulty in irrigation.

“It is currently wet season cropping in Leyte, so water is

not so much of a problem,” said Malabanan.

However, Portula said there is a need to clean up some irrigation canals that have been clogged by fallen trees and roofings, and other obstructions left by the typhoon. Irrigators' associations are con-ducting the repair of these canals.

There are 34,000 hectares of irrigated land in Leyte and 23,000 hectares of rainfed land.

Portula said FAO’s seed do-nation for inbred rice may reach 22,000 bags. Even with this do-nation, there remains to be 35,000 hectares that need seed financing.

“We are thankful for the many donors. But the donations are not enough to fill the requirement for seeds,” Portula said. “Three days after the typhoon, the seeds that had been stocked for planting were milled because there was nothing to eat.”

The provincial agriculture office has so far obtained some SL-8H and SL-18H seeds that are expected to help double farm-ers’ rice yield from around four MT per hectare to eight MT per hectare.

SLAC is also looking at enter-ing into Public Private Partner-ships in order to beef-up support to Leyte.

THE STERLING PAPER GROUP OF COMPANIES TOGETHER WITH HUN CHUAN TEMPLE

DISTRIBUTES RELIEF GOODS TO TYPHOON YOLANDA VICTIMS

GB

Super typhoon Yolanda which pummeled Visayas in November destroyed thousands of houses and agricultural areas.

The Sterling Paper Group with Hun Chuan Temple, its charitable part-ner, distributed to typhoon Yolanda victims millions of pesos worth of food items, assorted biscuits, assorted medicines, slippers, flashlights, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste. Fifteen employees of BPO Sterling Global and Sterling Paper flew to Panay Island to distribute the goods to barangays Kinal kalan, Bakulod, Kabalic, Malapuk in Balasan, Iloilo; Estancia, Iloilo; and Brgy. San Pedro, Pilar, Capiz. In its aim to further help typhoon affected-farmers on a longer term. Sterling, through SL Agritech is partnering with donors on a subsequent hybrid rice seed distribution. Sterling Paper President Gerry Lim (center) is here photographed with employees who joined in the distribution of goods.

7GINTONG BUTIL

NEW EXPORT DESTINATIONS FOR SLAC'S DOÑA MARIA RICEFrom page 1

From page 1

Brisk sales for Doña Maria rice in China

Ecija of SL Agritech Corp.“This rice is really being

awaited for by Filipinos in Dubai. Some of our fellow Filipinos said they don’t want other kinds of rice from other countries that are hard or are not tender or aromatic. They really like Doña Maria Jas-ponica and Miponica rice,” said SLAC Assistant to the Chairman

Michelle Lim-Gankee. At the send-off, Delima said

the Philippines was expected to attain its 400 MT export target for premium rice in 2013.

“We didn’t really anticipate that the response of the interna-tional market to our rice will be this warm.” said Delima. “The President (Benigno S. Aquino III) always says our flagship program

is food sufficiency. That means we’ll have significant decrease in imports and significant increase in export," he said.

Last October, SLAC shipped out to California 20MT of Doña Maria Jasponica and Miponica rice packed in two-kilogram, five-kilogram and 10-kilogram bags.

Early in February 2014, SLAC shipped out to Muscat, Oman 20MT of Doña Maria Jas-ponica and Miponica rice packed in two-kilogram, five-kilogram and 10-kilogram bags.

Delima said the DA will con-tinue to tap opportunities to export premium rice while sustaining efforts to attain self-sufficiency in the grain.

While hybrid rice cultiva-

tion area in the Philippines only comprises 150,000 hectares, Gan-kee said an additional 500,000 hectares of hybrid rice area will easily make Philippines produce an incremental two million MT. That will be more than enough to offset the 187,000 MT of imports in 2013.

That is, given the fact that hybrid rice has been proven to be capable of raising farmers’ yield by four MT per hectare from the national average yield placed at about 3.5-3.8 MT per hectare.

Just by converting inbred rice into hybrid and following best cultural practices, farmers can harvest eight MT (per hectare) or even more.palay). Sa hybrid ay maaring mas mataas lamang ng P5,000 ang gastos

ng nagha-hybrid. Ibayong pakinabang naman ang bumabalik.Sa ibang aspeto ng cultural practices, may naiiba ba sa paraan

sa pagtatanim at pag-aalaga ng hybrid at inbred na tanim?Ang pinakamalaking pagkakaiba ay ang dami ng punla na ginagamit

bawat tundos ng palay. Sa inbred gumagamit siya ng 3 - 5 na seedlings kada puno. Sa hybrid pwede na ang 1 - 2 lang. Kaya ang pagpupunla nito ay madalang sa seedbed para ang mapo-produce mong halaman ay matataba, malalaki at malakas magsuwi (tillers).

Sa paraan ng pagpupunla, ano ang naiiba? Ang kailangan lamang natin para sa isang ektarya ay 15 - 20 kilo.

Dapat ay hindi liliit sa 400 sqm ang gagamitin nating punlaan para maka-produce ka ng malulusog at matatabang punla. Sa punlaan, kailangang gumawa ng kama na 1 - 1.5 meters ang lapad at ang haba ay depende sa magiging kabuuuang sukat na 400 sqm. Kailangang itaas mo ng 4 - 5 centimeters para kung umulan hindi lumubog sa tubig. Mas makabubuti rin kung ibababad sa tubig at kukulubin (incubate) ng magdamag ang mga binhi bago maingat na ikalat sa punlaan. Sa ganito ay nagigising ang mga binhi.

Sa sistema ng patubig, may pagkakaiba ba?Pareho lang. Mas gusto ng hybrid at marami siyang magsuwi kung

hindi laging babad sa tubig. Sa agwat ng pagtatanim?Magkaiba ang agwat ng pagtatanim sa tag-araw at sa tag-ulan. Pag

tag-ulan mas malaki ang pagitan ng punla -- kalimitan 20 X 20 cm. Pag tag-araw, pwedeng 15 X 20 cm or 18 by 20 cm. Kasi sa tag-araw mas marami tayong sinag ng araw na nagagamit ng halaman sa paggawa ng pagkain. Isa pa walang masyadong peste at sakit ang palay kung maganda ang panahon. Kaya pwedeng mas malapit ang distansya ng pagtatanim.

Sinasabi na pag itinanim ang hybrid sa panahon ng tag-ulan ay susceptible sa pest and diseases?

Iyan ay noong unang bahagi pa lamang na ipinakilala ang hybrid. Noon susceptible sa pest and diseases ang variety ng hybrid. Wala pang pagpipilian. Sa ngayon marami nang na-develop na bagong variety. Ang SL Agritech Corp. ay meron nang SL-12H para sa tag-ulan na sa initial test sa iba't-ibang probinsya ay maganda ang resulta. Halimbawa, sabi ng mayor ng Pototan, Iloilo, noon lang daw siya nakakita ng hybrid variety na pwede sa tag-ulan. Ang ibig sabihin, kitang-kita ang pagkakaiba ng adaptability niya sa panahon ng tag-ulan.

Ano pa ang tagubilin mo sa mga magsasaka na gagamit ng binhing hybrid?

ANG MAGIC NG HYBRID RICE

From page 3

Kailangan ay sundin ang tamang pamamaraan -- protocol o standard cultural management practices -- na hinihingi sa pag-tatanim ng hybrid para magka-roon ang magsasaka ng mataas na ani. Halimbawa ay sa pagha-handa ng seedbed, paglalagay ng tamang abono, pagpapatubig, pagtatanim hanggang sa pag-aani.

Anuman ang inyong binhi, hybrid o inbred, mahalaga rin na tanggalin ang damo sapagkat siya lang ang kakain ng pataba kapag hindi tinanggal. Sayang ang kapital.

Uulitin ko, ang return on investment ang dapat isaalang-alang, hindi ang konting dagdag

Doña Maria Rice also helped enable the Philippines to export its pioneering volume of premium rice when it shipped out an initial 20 MT to Dubai in May this year.

Rice-o-Pedia reported that China produced 195.714 million MT of rice in 2009 based on International Rice Research Institute data, making it the world's No. 1 rice producer that year.

Doña Maria carries its rightful tagline "the best tasting rice in the Philippines, probably the whole world."

GB

GB

sa gastos. Dapat nating ituring na negosyo ang pagpapalayan. Ang huling binibilang ay ang dami ng kinita matapos bawasin ang gastos. (From Kaunlaran, Dec. 2013)

The December issue of Kaunlaran is available in all Expressions and Mart One stores nationwide.

GINTONG BUTIL8

SLAC to plant 2 M ha of hybrid rice in 5 years

DA NOW PUSHING HYBRID RICE

The Philippines' biggest hy-brid rice seed firm SL Agritech Corp. (SLAC) is targeting the planting of hybrid rice on two million hectares in five years in its aim to help boost Philippines rice sufficiency and potential rice export.

As the Department of Agri-culture (DA) aims to hit 22.73 million metric tons (MT) of paddy rice production by 2016 based on its Food Staples Suf-ficiency Program (FSSP), SLAC is aligning its targets with it.

"In three to five years, SLAC is aiming to feed 50 million people. By that time two million hectares must be planted globally to SLAC hybrid rice varieties," said SLAC Chairman Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong.

Convenors of the First Hy-brid Rice Congress in the Philip-pines held in April 2013 supports the FSSP program that allocates some 400,000 hectares for hybrid rice by 2014.

By 2015 to 2016, this area is foreseen to grow to 500,000 hectares.

As SLAC supports DA's FSSP target to also expand pro-duction of other staples like ba-nana, cassava, sweet potato, and corn, SLAC believes rice will remain to be the staple of many Filipinos.

Providing for hybrid rice ex-pansion will be a major answer to meeting sharply increasing food demand that may result in food shortage.

SLAC's specific target in the Philippines is to plant hybrid rice on 500,000 hectares.

If 500,000 hectares are plant-ed to hybrid rice, this can give an incremental yield of three to four tons per hectare. That would equate to an additional two mil-lion tons of paddy rice. At 65

percent milling recovery, this can feed 10 to 13 million people at 100 kilo per capita consumption," said Lim.

Higher incomeSLAC has been part of the

Aquino government's rice export program which is hoped to enable Filipino farmers to earn higher from rice planting.

The export program involves export only of premium quality rice, bringing an export price of at least $1,000 per MT compared to just around $500 per MT for

regular rice.As hybrid rice gives a high

average yield of 7.5 MT per hect-are compared to inbred's four MT, farmers also benefit significantly from higher income.

Hybrid farmers' income can reach a net of P50,000 to P100,000 per hectare. Inbred rice farmers only earn a net of P15,000 to P30,000 per hectare.

Of the estimated 400 MT rice export for the year, SLAC accounts for more than 100 MT of the rice shipped to Dubai, Singapore, and the United States.

The company has been part-nering with local government units, including Cagayan, Bohol, Isabela, and Nueva Ecija in the aim to raise hybrid rice produc-tion.

In order to achieve its five-year target, SLAC is entering into Private-Public Sector Partnership or PPP.

It is collaborating with pri-vate seed companies, traders and millers, input providers (fertilizer and pesticide suppliers), credit and insurance providers, and DA -attached agencies.

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) is now encouraging farmers to invest in hybrid rice seeds to enable the rice sector to recover from production loses after the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas and Typhoon Santi in Central Luzon this year.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said the government would continue to educate farm-ers on the benefits of using hybrid rice seeds despite the higher investment it entails.

“We are encouraging farmers to use hybrid rice seeds. When you plant hybrid rice seeds, there will of course be increased costs in irriga-tion and fertilizer. But the returns are also good. So we will explain this to them,” he said.

Hybrid rice seeds can yield as much as seven to eight metric tons (MT) per hectare against inbred varieties which only yield between four to five MT per hectares. High yielding varieties are grown by both private and state entities.

“We should give weight to new tasks like increasing hybrid rice cultivation areas,” said Alcala.

Because of the high cost of hybrid seeds and farm inputs, some Filipino farmers prefer to use inbred varieties instead.

Alcala, in his first few years at the DA, was not seen on promoting hybrid rice because of the higher cost.

Alcala said, however that the Philippine Rice

Research Institute (PhilRice) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are now growing hybrid varieties Mestizo 19 and Mestizo 20 which yield more than seven metric tons per hectare.

PhilRice and IRRI have also produced inbred varieties 224, 222 and 168 which yield six to seven MT per hectare.

Agriculture Undersecretary Dante Delima said earlier the DA National Rice Program would provide assistance to farmers growing hybrid rice in the form of farm mechanization and other farm inputs to help them defray costs.

After the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda in November, the DA conceded that self-sufficiency in rice would not be attained this year.

Under the Food Staples Sufficiency Program, self-sufficiency entails covering the annual do-mestic per capita consumption of 115 kilograms per year while still providing for the 90-day buf-fer stock requirement. After the supertyphoon pummeled Visayas, the country is seen to attain a sufficiency level of only 97 to 98 percent this year.

To prop up the country’s buffer stock, the National Food Authority Council approved the importation of 500,000 metric tons (MT) of rice from Vietnam which would be shipped in tranches until the end of the first quarter of 2014.

-Czeriza ValenciaPhilippine Star, Dec. 28, 2013

ENERO-PEBRERO 2014

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GINTONG BUTIL 9

LEYTE FARMER EXPANDS LAND AREA THROUGH SL-8H PLANTING

Farmers among the Philip-pines' poorest barangays in Leyte are reaping the benefits of high

ENERO-PEBRERO 2014

His planting in the last season (October 2013 harvest) of SL-18H, a variety with intensified resistance to bacterial leaf blight, was under SLAC's technology demonstration program.

SLAC aims to develop the potential of Region 8 not only to maintain its rice self-sufficiency level, but to help enable the region ship out rice to other islands as Leyte has already been tagged as one of the country's top 10 rice producing provinces.

"We have already been run-ning a Palayan ng Bayan during the Masagana 99 days. San Miguel was already a center of rice produc-tion then," said Rogelio O. Portula, Leyte Provincial Agriculturist.

The Palayan ng Bayan or town rice granary was a model for best practices on rice farming of the Masagana 99 program in the 1970s.

Before typhoon Yolanda struck Leyte, the leadership of San Miguel town had expressed interest to push for hybrid rice production.

"I plan to establish a technol-ogy demonstration farm on one hectare. The governor (Jericho Petilla) has told us that we should venture into hybrid rice. It's an exciting work because right now we want to see how we can im-prove our productivity. We will do whatever is needed for that," said Mayor Chekay Esperas.

SLAC hopes to be part of re-storing the hybrid rice area in Leyte to 20,000 hectares. Leyte reached the 20,000-hectare mark in hybrid rice area in 2007-2008 during the peak of government's hybrid rice subsidy program.

However, area dropped to 5,000 hectares in 2010 after gov-ernment removed the hybrid rice subsidy.

Despite some lull due to the removal of subsidy for hybrid rice in 2010, farmers in Leyte are

expected to put back investments into hybrid rice after realizing they still make a lot more money from hybrid seeds despite higher seed costs compared to inbreds.

There are 38,000 hectares of irrigated land in Leyte, 25,000 hectares of which are rainfed.

"Our company sees opportu-

nities of helping farmers earn higher and modernize farming. When farm-ers have more money, they consume more goods that help churn out consumption that in turn enable rural economies to develop," said SLAC Chief Executive Officer Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong.

Mr. Ferdous (Mitul) was just a simple Bangladeshi farmer planting inbred rice.

Now, he is one of many Bangladeshi farmers who have become a model farmer who can show the world that he can achieve a remarkable rice yield of 12.5 tons per hectare on ave-rage through hybrid rice.

Because of his high yield, the government of Bangladesh sent him to the Philippines in July 2009 along with Bangladesh government officials and scientists.

After his trip to the Philippines, Ferdous started his job orga-nizing local farmers that led to the expansion of more areas for SL-8H hybrid rice production.

From time to time, Ferdous takes advice from Dr. M. H. Naqvi, rice program coordinator of Bangladesh. Dr. Naqvi once visited the SL-8H hybrid rice production village.

Ferdous believes that if 20 percent of the total rice area in Bangladesh will be planted to SL-8H hybrid rice, then the nation will be self-sufficient on food and may even have the potential to export rice which is now the government's plan.

With hybrid rice, Ferdous' dream and his desire for his coun-try's food self-sufficiency is not too far from being realized.

BANGLADESHI FARMER HARVESTS 12 MT PER HA

income from hybrid rice. Apolonio Ablan, 53, of Sitio

Bunga, Alang Alang, Leyte gar-nered the record as highest yielder in Leyte at 220 cavans per hectare in 2009.

His highest yield from inbred before was 145-150 cavans per hectare. Using SL-8H, his net income doubled from P50,000 to P100,000.

"Hybrid rice is really good. The stalks stand well. I counted 462 grains per panicle in my new SL-18H. This is much higher than others that only had 320 grains per panicle," Ablan said.

From owning only four hect-ares of land as of 2006, his farm-ing area grew at present to 14.5 hectares as he continuously rolled over his profits from hybrid rice planting.

"What is important is you fol-low the technology," he said.

One of his secrets is in fertiliza-tion. He fertilizes seven days after transplanting seedlings. Yet, his fertilization is still moderate at just two bags per hectare.

In his 14.5 hectare farm, he got all of these planted to hybrid rice except for 0.5 hectare that is planted to inbred just because seeds had run out.

APOLONIO ABLAN

Farmer Ferdous (extreme right) as he shows off his hybrid rice fields to visitors.

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GINTONG BUTIL10 ENERO-PEBRERO 2014

GINTONG BUTIL 11

SL Agritech aligns with DA's Rice Sufficiency Program

SL Agritech Corp. (SLAC) has aligned its hybrid rice thrust with the Department of Agricul-ture's (DA) Food Staples Suf-ficiency Program (FSSP) that targets hybrid rice area to reach to 500,000 hectares in 2015-2016.

DA and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) have targeted rice production at 22.73 million metric tons (MT) of paddy rice by 2016 under its FSSP. This is from the projected 19 million MT this year.

"If 500,000 hectares are plant-ed to hybrid rice, this can give an incremental yield of three to four tons per hectare. That would equate to an additional two million tons of paddy rice. At 65 percent milling recovery, this can feed 10 to 13 million people at 100 kilo per capita consumption," said SLAC Chairman Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong.

Target area under the FSSP for hybrid seeds plus nitrogen fertilization planting is at 250,000 hectares for 2013, 400,000 hect-ares for 2014 and 500,000 hect-ares for 2015-2016.

The FSSP also targets an increase in national yield average from 4.23 MT per hectare in 2013 to 4.43 MT per hectare in 2014.

By 2015, this should further increase to 4.48 MT per hectare in 2015 and 4.53 MT per hectare in 2016.

And much of this increase in yield average can come from hybrid rice production that can benefit Filipino farmers.

"As hybrid rice gives a high average yield of 7.5 tons per hect-are compared to inbred's four tons, farmers also benefit significantly from higher income. Hybrid rice farmers' income can reach a net of P50,000 to P100,000 per hectare. Inbred rice farmers only earn a net of P15,000 to P30,000 per hectare," said Lim.

At the same time SLAC has an ambitious program to expand its hybrid rice globally to two mil-

lion hectares in five years."In three to five years, SLAC

is aiming to feed 50 million people. By that time two million hectares must be planted to SLAC hybrid rice varieties," said SLAC Chairman Henry Lim Bon Liong.

"The company's SL-8H hy-brid rice seeds is targeted to be planted on 410,000 hectares outside of the Philippines," said Lim who spoke in October before the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

"The target area for SL-8H are 150,000 hectares, in Bangladesh;

Si Michelle Lim-Gankee, ang anak ng presidente ng SL Agritech Corporation na si Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong, ay sumubok makipag-ani sa bukid ni Mang Dean Astom ng Barangay Mapayapa, Pagsanjan, Laguna.

Ang tanim ni Mang Dean ay SL-8H variety - isang hybrid na uri ng palay. Sa labinlimang ektarya ng palayan na tanim sa tag-ulan, si Mang Dean ay umaani ng average na 175 kaban bawat ektarya. Samantala kung tag-araw, ang kanyang karaniwang ani ay lumalampas pa ng 200 kaban sa bawat ektarya.

Sa ngayon, mayroon nang isang uri ng hybrid rice, ang SL-12H na angkop sa tag-ulan - hindi ma-daling kapitan ng mga sakit na bacterial leaf blight at tungro.

Si Mang Dean ay dating empleyado ng bangko na naengganyang magbukid dahilan sa magandang kita sa pagpapalayan lalo na pag ginagamitan ng makabagong teknolohiya gaya ng pagtatanim ng mga malakas umaning binhi. Mula nang matuklasan niya ang kabutihan ng hybrid na binhi, hindi na siya nag-inbred.

At marami na rin sa kaniyang mga kababayan at kabaranggay ang nahihikayat sa pagtatanim ng hybrid mula nang makita ang kanyang magandang ani.

Naipaliwanag ni Mang Dean sa mga kasama na kung mahal man ang binhing hybrid na umaabot sa P4,500 bawat ektarya, kakaunti naman ang kailan-gang binhi (15 - 18 kilo) at nasusulit naman, ayon sa kanyang 30 porsyentong dagdag na ani.

Ang anihan ang pinakamasayang bahagi ng pag-papalayan na nakakaibis sa lahat ng pinagpaguran -- pagbubungkal at paghahanda ng lupa, pagpupunla, pagtatanim, pag-aalis ng damo, pagpapatubig at pag-aalaga laban sa mga peste at sakit.

200,000 hectares in Indonesia; and 60,000 hectares in Vietnam," he said.

FSSP's targeted area from ir-rigated system (where hybrid rice is mostly grown) is 16.3 million MT in 2013, 17.78 million MT in 2014, 18.37 million MT in 2015, and 18.9 million MT in 2016.

Targetted paddy rice produc-tion from non-irrigated farms is 3.75 million MT in 2013, 3.72 million MT in 2014, 3.75 million MT in 2015, and 3.83 million MT in 2016.

For inbred seeds that are of

high quality plus nitrogen fertil-ization and Integrated Crop Man-agement, our expansion target is 742,500 hectares in 2013; 937,500 hectares in 2014; 1.137 million hectares in 2015; and 1.237 mil-lion hectares in 2016.

DA's FSSP involves not only rice but expansion of areas of other staples.

These are banana, cassava, sweet potato, and corn.

Still, many Filipinos are ex-pected to continue taking rice as their staple food.

- Melody Aguiba/ Manila Bulletin Dec. 16, 2013

ENERO-PEBRERO 2014

PAGGAPAS NG PALAY

Noon mang unang panahon, maging ang mga taong hindi bahagi ng pagtatanim ay tumutulong sa gapasan ng palay. Iyan ay upang madaling matapos ang pag-aani. Samantala ang mga nakikigapas ay nakakatikim ng masarap na bagong aning bigas at nakikihati sa pakinabang sa bukid.

Ang mga magsasaka ay lalong nalulugod kapag nakikita ang malalaking uhay na may mara-mi at mabibintog na butil ng palay.- LOUIE TABING

(from Kaunlaran, December 2013)

Nakigapas ng palay si SLAC Asst. to the Chairman Michelle Lim-Gankee sa isang palayan sa Laguna.

Amazing yields at the SLAC-Mystica Farm techno demo site

SI SIR HENRY AT ANG SL HYBRID RICE

SL Agritech Corporation in partnership with the Mystica Farm in Laguna and Quezon established 8.5 hectares of Technology Demonstration last wet season 2013. Four hybrid rice varieties such as SL-8H, SL-9H, SL-11H and SL-18H were used in the techno demo.

SL-9H and SL-11H gave the highest yield of 6.8 and 7 metric tons per hectare (MT/ha) compared to inbreds with only 4MT/ha yield. SL-8H and SL-18H yielded 5MT/ha despite the incidence of rice tungro virus and black bug infestation.

Pedro Gunda, farmer from Nanhaya, Victoria, Laguna was very happy with his 140-cavan harvest per hectare compared to only 80 cavans for inbred rice. Lito Tugade, another farmer from from Tagbakin, Tiaong, Quezon was very impressed with SL-8H and SL-18H. Even with the high incidence of rice tungro virus and infestation of rice black bug, he was able to harvest 100 cavans per hectare.

Result of techno demo showed that farmers can in-crease their production by 75% using SLAC hybrid rice variet-ies compared to inbreds. SLAC technicians advised the Mystica farmers to plant on time and practice synchronous planting to avoid the high incidence of pests and diseases in the area and attain higher yield and income.

SLAC will continouosly provide technical assistance to the farmers of Mystica Farm for them to attain higher yield and income. With climate change affecting the country and the whole world, hybrid rice can

Outstanding Yield Performance of SL Agritech Corporation Hybrid Rice Varieties at the MYSTICA FARM located in Tiaong, Quezon and Victoria, Laguna, Wet Season Crop-ping 2013.

be an alternative tool to attain food security in the country.

Malayo sa larangan ng pag-bubukid ang mga pag-aari at pinatatakbong negosyo ni Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong. Ang Sterling Group of Companies ay mas unang nakilala kaugnay sa tindahan ng mga aklat at school and office supplies. Sa ngayon ay meron rin silang chain ng mga tindahan ng gamit sa paara-lan, supermarket, packaging, real properties at iba pang mga bahay-kalakal.

Si Dr. Henry Lim Bon Li-ong, sa pamamagitan ng kumpa-nyang SL Agritech Corporation, ang negosyanteng nagpasimula ng kilusan ng paggamit ng hy-brid rice sa Pilipinas labinli-mang taon na ang nakakaraan, at ngayon ay nagpapalaganap ng pagtatanim ng hybrid rice sa maraming bansa sa Asya.

Sa mga mauunlad na magsa-saka na aming nakausap, kilala nila si Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong bilang "Sir Henry", na siya ring mapitagang tawag ng kanyang

may 2000 kawani.Isang engineering graduate

sa University of the Philip-

pines, humawak na siya ng mga negosyong tungkol sa tindahan ng mga papel, aklat at gamit sa eskwela sa batang gulang pa lamang na 26 na taon.

Kaya, nagulat na lamang si Sir Henry nang minsan ay na-tanong siya ng kanyang kaibig-ang noo'y Pangalawang Pangulo ng bansa Joseph Estrada,“Paano ba natin mapapaunlad ang agri-kultura? Paano ba na ang ban-sang China na may 1.3 billion people (noon) ay nakasasapat sa bigas?”

“Ni presyo ng bigas sa palengke ay hindi ko alam,” pag-amin ni Sir Henry. Subalit dahil naintriga ang negosyante sa tanong, siya mismo ay nagsa-liksik at nagsuri.

Iyon ang naging daan upang makilala niya at makapalagay-ang-loob si Professor Yuan Long-ping, ang bantog na siyentistang itinuturing na national treasure (pambansang yaman) ng China.

-From Kaunlaran, December 2013(To be continued in the next issue)

SLAC Chairman Dr. Henry Lim shows off SL-8H grown in Nueva Ecija.

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Mystica Farm technician Pedro Gunda is very pleased with the results of the wet season field testing of various SLAC hybrid rice varieties.

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