Lesson on TATAKalikasan, Ateneo de Manila University
87.9 FM Radyo Katipunan, every Thursday 11 to 12 a.m.
"Let's Save Our Local Rice Industry from Crisis!"
First Session: An Overview on Current Rice Shortage
l. Increase in population, increase in demand2. Overeating, too much consumption of rice3. Pollution, erosion, desertification4. Modernization of agriculture backlash5. Tri-commodity farming no longer followed6. Global warming effects on agriculture7. Salt water intrusion, rise of sea level8. Cost of production high, low ROI9. Land use policy violations rampant10. The young generation is not keen on farming11. Government regulations poorly implemented12. Countries fill their granary first before exporting their rice13. Narrowing down of genetic diversity (old proven varieties gone)14. Limited adaptability of present rice varieties15. New and evolving pest and diseases of rice16. Rice high-value products and by-products utilization17. More researches on rice as food and non-food uses18. Economic, socio-cultural, political review of the rice industry19. Revival of General Order 47 mandating big companies to provide rice to their employees20. Restoration of the role of the National Food Authority as guardian of the industry
Annexes: References and Guidelines
1 - "Farming is a Way of Living."2 - Non-cash farming technology: Foundation of farmstead and natural agriculture3 - Let's Cut Down Rice Wastage and Develop Rice Substitutes4 - Don't Waste Food!5 - Reviving the Bahay Kubo Culture
6 - Don't throw away rice hull or ipa. (5 practical uses)
7. "Palay-isdaan" (Rice-Fish Culture) - An Agro-Ecology Model
Dr Abe V Rotor
Co-Host TATAKalikasan with Prof. Emoy Rodolfo, ADMU
Living with Nature School on Blog
avrotor.blogspot.com
Farming - A Way of Living in acrylic by AV Rotor AVR
1 - "Farming is a Way of Living."
“Farming is a way of living,” says the dean of farm management in the Philippines, Dr Felix D. Maramba, quoting Eugene Devenport who said that farming is not only a business, but a mode of life. “Sometimes the business is the prominent feature, so successful that life seems to run on one long sweet song. Sometimes the business runs so low that life is a bitter struggle.”
The farm and the family home is intertwined; in fact they are one. Anything that affects the farm as a business also affects directly as a home. The farm operator is the head of the household and the bulk of the farm work is done by the members of the family. The farmer is the farmer 24 hours a days, on weekdays as well as on Sundays and Holidays.
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Dr Felix Maramba wrote two books: “Biogas and Waste Recycling, The Philippine Experience” and “Farm Management in the Philippines”. He designed the Maya Farms Model.
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The children are brought up in close contact with nature. They develop an appreciation of the manifestations of the Creator through living things and their order. The farm boy does not have to wait until he is grown up before he can work and share family responsibilities. He is brought up early in the family business. In this way he will learn the value of industry and a sense of proprietorship early in life. The work habits and resourcefulness developed by farm children are kept throughout their lives.
This old school of Dean Maramba may not be the model progressive farmers are looking for today, but definitely the better farmer is the entrepreneur who grew up with farming and pursued training in technology and farm management, and has gain the confidence and skills in transforming the traditional concept of a farm into an agribusiness and therefore, he has a better chance in dealing with the complexities of world of the agriculture and business.
Make the correct decisions in farming.
Farming is no easy task. It is full of decisions - decisions based on socio-economic principles, and guided by rules of conduct and natural laws and of society. These are 10 guidelines in decision making.
1. Surplus labor resources of typically large rural families should be directed to labor-intensive projects, such as integrated farming.
2. Hillside or upland agriculture requires the cultivation of permanent crops, preferably through mixed cropping, such as intercropping of coconuts with orchard trees and annual crops.
3. Coastal and river swamplands should be preserved as wildlife sanctuaries, and should be managed as an ecosystem, rather than an agricultural venture.
4. Wastes can be recycled and converted into raw materials of another enterprise. Farm wastes and byproducts of processing can be processed biologically into methane, organic fertilizer, and biomass for vermiculture.
5. Productivity of small farms can be increased through pyramidal or storey farming. Batangas and Cavite farmers are well known for storied multiple cropping.
6. Poor soils can be rehabilitated through natural farming, such as green manuring, crop rotation and use of organic fertilizers, all integrated in the farming system. Corn-peanut, rice-mungo are popular models of crop rotations.
7. Cottage industries are built on agriculture, guided by profitability and practical technology. It is time to look at the many agro-industries, from food processing to handicrafts.
8. Tri-commodity farming maximizes utilization of resources, such as having an orchard, planting field crops, and raising fish and livestock on one farm.
9. Cooperative farming is the solution to economics of scale, these to include multipurpose and marketing cooperatives of farmers and entrepreneurs.
10. Since the number of days devoted to farming is only one-third of the whole year, livelihood outside of farming should be developed. Like a sari-sari store, a small farm cannot afford to have too many hands. Other opportunities should be tapped outside of farming by other members of the family.
Get rid of waste by utilizing them.
Agricultural byproducts make good animal feeds, as follows:
• Rice straw, corn stovers and sugarcane tops, the most common crop residues in the tropics, contain high digestible nutrients, and provide 50% of the total ration of cattle and carabaos.
• Rice bran and corn bran are the most abundant general purpose feed that provides 80 percent of nutritional needs of poultry, hogs and livestock, especially when mixed with copra meal which is richer in protein than imported wheat bran (pollard).
• Cane molasses is high in calorie value. Alternative supplemental feeds are kamote vines for hogs and pineapple pulp and leaves for cattle.
Here is a simple feed formula for cattle: Copra meal 56.5 kg; rice bran (kiskisan or second class cono bran) 25kg; molasses 15kg; Urea (commercial fertilizer grade, 45%N) 2.0kg; salt 1.0kg; and bone meal 0.5kg. Weight gain of a two-year old Batangas cattle breed fed with this formulation is 0.56 kg on the average,
These are byproducts which have potential feed value: These are byproducts or wastes in the processing of oil, starch, fish, meat, fruit and vegetables. The abundance of agricultural by-products offers ready and cheap feed substitutes with these advantages.
• It cuts down on feed costs,
• reduces the volume on imported feed materials,
• provides cheaper source of animal protein,
• provides employment and livelihood, and
• keeps the environment clean and in proper balance.
Protect nature through environment-friendly technology.
One example is the use of rice hull ash to protects mungbeans from bean weevil. Burnt rice hull (ipa) contains silica crystals that are microscopic glass shards capable of penetrating into the conjunctiva of the bean weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus. Once lodged, the crystal causes more damage as the insect moves and struggles, resulting in infection and desiccation, and ultimately death.
This is the finding of Ethel Niña Catahan in her masteral thesis in biology at the University of Santo Tomas. Catahan tested two types of rice hull ash, One is partly carbonized (black ash) and the other oven-burned (white ash). Both were applied independently in very small amount as either mixed with the beans or as protectant placed at the mouth of the container. In both preparations and methods, mungbeans – and other beans and cereals, for that matter – can be stored for as long as six months without being destroyed by this Coleopterous insect.
The bean weevil is a cosmopolitan insect whose grub lives inside the bean, eating the whole content and leaving only the seed cover at the end of its life cycle. When it is about to emerge the female lays eggs for the next generation. Whole stocks of beans may be rendered unfit not only for human consumption, but for animal feeds as well. It is because the insect leaves a characteristic odor that comes from the insect’s droppings and due to fungal growth that accompanies infestation. There are many kinds of vegetables you can choose
for backyard and homelot gardening.
Let’s aim at unifying agriculture and ecology into agro-ecology. This is what practical farming is all about. ~
2 - Non-cash farming technology:
Foundation of farmstead and natural agriculture
“It is technology farmers do not have to pay cash for a non- cash input.” This definition actually refers to good basic farm practices which small farmers can carry out themselves - first, to save on production cost; second, to improve production efficiency; and third to institutionalize farming into farmstead, and as a way of life.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]
Multi-storey cropping; integrated contour farming
Non- cash technology, however, should not be regarded as alternative to cash input per se, but can be a substitute to some costly items. What is significant in the concept is that good farm practices can maximize the value of cash input.
The best examples are found right in all fundamental steps of good farming. Good seeds generally produce more yields under any condition. These means farmers must practice seed selection, and plant only certified seeds. Grains produced from poor seeds are not only few; they produce low milling recovery due to admixtures of different grain shape, size and maturity.
The labor-intensive characteristic of typical farms in Asia ideally provides for greater attention to enhance proper farm management. After all, the progressive farmer is one who prepares is land more thoroughly, manages his nursery better, water his field more cleanly and has better water control, mainly through his effort and those of his large family.
Non-cash technology extends further from mere saving on direct expenses. It is also based on innovative approaches. A rice-garlic combination has these components; the garlic crop “rides” on the remaining soil moisture and on the tillage of early rice crop; and rice straw is used to mulch garlic in order to reduce water loss and weed population.
Other popular examples of non-cash inputs are:
- Use early maturing varieties to allow a second or third cropping.
- Make use of solar energy in drying palay, corn and other farm products.
- Follow precise timing of land preparation to turn up weeds to dry up. Plow them under to be decomposed to save on herbicide and laborious weeding
- Prepare rows parallel to East-West direction to allow more solar exposure to enhance growth and yield.
- Practice green manuring in place of or supplement to, commercial fertilizers.
- Recycle farm residues like corn stovers, rice straw and peanut hay for livestock, and farm wastes for organic fertilizer.
- Practice intercropping to reduce the spread and occurrence of pests and diseases, and to maximize the utilization of an input like
fertilizer.
The revival of non-cash technology is generally recognized as a Third World innovation. It may lack the glamour and sophistication of modern agriculture, but it holds the key in solving many problems of small farms.~
Integrated home garden; integrated homestead models
Acknowledgement: Internet illustrations
Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid 738 DZRB (AM Band) 8 to 9 evening class Mon to Fri with Ms Melly C Tenorio
3 - Let's Cut Down Rice Wastage
and Develop Rice Substitutes
Yes, children, there is Santa Gracia
Dr Abe V Rotor
Co-Host TATAKalikasan with Fr Jomari V. Manzano, SJ
Living with Nature School on Blog
avrotor.blogspot.com
We have chosen this article for this session in response to the current problem of rice supply this lean months or off-season period which is exacerbated by the El Niño dry spell, and precipitated by the COVID pandemic.
While our government is committed in assuring sufficient supply of this staple commodity at affordable price, it is the responsibility of every citizen to cut down losses in wastage, and over consumption, of rice and other food commodities.
While our national goal is self-sufficiency in rice by increasing yield and hectarage, we must at the same time reduce rice loss in the field, in processing, and on the dining table on one hand, and reduce rice consumption through various food substitutes, on the other.
The second aspect is how we can reduce our consumption of rice in the light of recurrent production shortage, and increasing price without necessarily depriving ourselves of energy and nutrients.
As an overview, rice is lost in three stages.
1. Field loss in production mainly to pest and force majeure runs up to 50 percent of potential harvest. In many cases, it is total crop failure.
Mechanized rice threshing in modern agriculture replaces manual method and close-knit community tradition.
2. Gains in rice production may be negated by huge postharvest loss mainly due to lack of facilities and improper processing. Postharvest loss ranges from 10 to 37 percent of total harvest. If we can only reduce Postharvest loss to the low level of 10 percent, we would be self-sufficient in rice. Philippine rice importation in 2014 was 1.2 million metric tons worth at least one-half billion dollars.
3. Nutritional loss incurred during food preparation, cooking and poor eating habits is likewise high (no quantified figure but significant).
We can reduce postharvest loss. Postharvest loss can be reduced during the following activities:
1. Threshing - Use improved thresher, thresh on time and do not plant easy-shattering varieties.
2. Drying - Sundry properly, use mechanical dryers if sun drying is not feasible.
3. Milling - Use mill types/model with high milling recovery. Mill grains, which are properly dried. Do not mix different varieties.
4. Handling and transport - Use good sacks, transport properly and on time.
Rice Weevil (Sitophilus oryza)5. Storage - Keep pest away and moisture low. Store properly and dispose on time.
Let's Develop Substitutes to Reduce Pressure on Rice
Low production together with devaluation of our peso and spiraling world market price of the commodity have caused the price of rice to shoot up to as much as 100 percent in the last five years, and it is going to increase further.
Nature's gleaners. With farm animals and fowls around there's little waste on the farm. In fact, what is considered as waste becomes profit.
This view leads us to believe that we can institute or strengthen agricultural reforms and programs. One area to focus our attention is the development of rice substitutes such as other cereals, rootcrops, and legumes.
Aside from direct substitution, the increase in the uptake of fruits and vegetables, meat and fish would lead to a reduction in rice consumption, not to mention its valuable contribution to nutrition, thus the improvement of health.
Corn as a whole tops all rice substitutes, other than the fact that 20 percent (20 million) of our population depends on corn as staple.
In urban areas the most popular rice substitutes are noodle products, followed by pandesal and other wheat products. In rural areas, sweet potato (Ipomea batatas) and cassava (Manihot esculenta) top the list of rootcrops.
Among the legumes, mungo (Phaseolus radiatus) is best known. Generally, consumers of these products are unaware that they are doing a favor to the rice industry, particular during the lean months.
The development of these substitute products on the part of the farmers is beneficial. It will definitely boost diversified farming, and consequently income on the farm. A program based on this alternative is definitely necessary both in the short and long term, particularly if the focus is the development of indigenous products.
Here are some facts about rice to consider:
1. Per capita consumption of rice is from 95 to 130, Metro Manila and Ilocos Region, respectively. National average is close to 100 kg per person. Update, from DA-BPI, as follows:
The Philippines is a major rice consumer, with a population of roughly 110 million and annual per capita rice consumption of 133 kg.
2. Daily calorie supply per capita is 2,357. Rice supplies 38% of it.
3. With a total of rice eating Filipinos of 87 million, our total rice requirement is 13 million MT. Today's production is less than 12 million MT.
4. Our total rice area is shrinking, even as land use policy regulates non-agricultural land use, such as settlements and industry.
5. Farmlands are becoming marginal due to poor management.
6. Agrarian program, since it was promulgated 50 years ago, remains a social and political issue, instead of being a catalyst of growth and development.
7. Farming remains in the hands of farmers who are on the average 58 years old, with low formal education, and with very little personal savings.
8. There are less and less students taking up agriculture. Not even 10 percent of agriculture graduates go into farming.
9. There is need to define clearly our agricultural policy on rice self-sufficiency. In the seventies and eighties, the Philippines became one of the world's exporters of rice, as a result of a successful food production program. We were also self-sufficient in most basic food items.
10. Investment in agriculture is very low, priority is in industry. It should be the other way around, as many countries realized lately. ~
4 - Don't waste food, don't!
Yes, children, there is Santa Gracia
Don't throw away food left on the table. Please don't.
Recycle leftover in a different presentation.
• Food is Santa Gracia (holy grace) as old folks reverently call it.
• Food waste could otherwise go to millions who have not enough to eat.
• Food waste breeds pest and disease, sickens the air.
• Anything that goes to waste draws down the economy.
• Waste widens inequity in resources.
Here are some things to do with food leftovers.
1. Sinagag - fried rice mix with bits of bacon, ham, fried egg, fish, and the like.
2. Torta - tidbits like those mentioned in scramble egg. Include veggies like carrot and onion.
3. Pickle – excess veggies and fruits plus vinegar, sugar and salt, and spices. Good for carrot, bell pepper, cucumber, green papaya, yam (sinkamas), others.
4. Paksiw – if not consumed is fried, makes a new menu.
5. Daing – fish in season is dried, cooked with gata’ (coconut milk).
6. Suka – fruit vinegar from overripe pineapple, banana, others, but not tomato and kamias.
7. Pudding – bread not consumed on time is also made into pizza bread- bread crumbs, garlic bread.
8. Sopas – Grind bones, shrimp head for soup and broth. Bulalo for whole bone.
9. Pastillas – milk p
owder not consumed on time, also grated hardened cheese.
owder not consumed on time, also grated hardened cheese.10. Veggie and fruit peelings – for animal feeds, composting. Include solids from brewing (coffee) and juicing fruits. Ultimately, inevitable food waste is collected for feeds in poultry and piggery.
Food waste also emanates from carelessness in handling, food preparation and serving. Much is also lost due to lack of proper processing, transport and storage facilities. Estimated loss in postharvest alone runs from 10 to 37 percent of actual harvest of crops.
In "Give us this day our daily bread..." in the Lord's Prayer, us here is regarded as thanksgiving and remembering the millions people around the world who may not have the food they need.
I believe in the wisdom of the old folk who reminds us of the value of food. They have experienced hunger during war, drought, flood, crop failure, pestilence - even in normal times. They have not lost sight of the presence of Santa Gracia.
Yes, children there is Santa Gracia. ~
*In observance of World Food Day October 16, every year. Actually, Food Day must be observed every day.
5 - Reviving the Bahay Kubo Culture
My Nipa Hut, oil painting by AVRotor (2000)
Draw an aerial view of an ideal Filipino home on the country side (homestead, meaning, the dwelling and homelot), based on the Bahay Kubo concept. Modify it to meet present situation, objectives and goals. Fit the lyrics of the song into your illustration. Label properly. On another bond, "sell" (social marketing) your obra maestra, in an essay or feature.
Bahay kubo, hahit munti, ang halaman doon ay sari-sari. Singkamas at talong, sigidillas at mani, sitao, batao, patani. Kondol, patola, upo, kalabasa, at sa ka mayroon pa, labanos, mustasa. Sibuyas, kamatis, bawang at luya, at ang paligidligid ay linga.
Nipa hut*, even though it is smallThe plants it houses are variedTurnip and eggplant, winged bean and peanutString bean, hyacinth bean, lima bean.
Wax gourd, luffa**, white squash and pumpkin,And there is also radish, mustard,Onion, tomato, garlic, and gingerAnd all around are sesame seeds.
Acknowledgment: Mama Zisa’s World. International Music & Culture
Why is the Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut) and its variants in Asia and the Pacific Region (also in other parts of the world) gaining popularity? With eco-tourism and agro-tourism on the rise, economic difficulties notwithstanding, the bahay kubo is at center stage.
Tourists love it, and the bahay kubo bamboo craft industry is gaining popularity abroad. Bahay Kubo for export!
A bahay kubo is easy to make - structurally and aesthetically. It allows modification in size, dimension, design and make, usually with materials that are locally available. It is popularly affordable, a solution to the present housing problem.
No, it is not the shanty that is being pictured. The shanty, in fact, is the anti-thesis of the bahay kubo. It undermines its purpose and beauty, and most importantly, the pride and dignity of this symbol of Filipino heritage.
Today it is common to see city homes having a bahay kubo in their backyard, so with tops of buildings. At a distance one can glimpse a bahay kubo perched on a high rise building.
Vacation houses and beach cottages, also beer gardens and reception centers, are of the bahay kubo design and make.
Imagine the tree house of the Swiss Family Robinson, in a novel of the same title by Johann Wyss. Let's not get far. Filipinos like to build houses on trees. There's one in Rosario (La Union) perched on a huge acacia tree.
Bahay Kubo restaurant along MacArthur Highway, La Union
So with fancy doghouses and bird cages. Have you observed pig pens, poultry houses or sheds designed after the bahay kubo? But these are but decorative and fancy, although functional in many respects. They are offshoots of imagination to combine the modern and the native. They bring out nostalgic feelings and relief among migrants from the old barrio. They introduce to the young tradition and the ways of our ancestors they only know from books, TV and the Internet. They too, enliven the spirit of pre-Hispanic culture, of being oriental, and nationalistic. Or to be different by not going with the uncharted current of change. And there are other reasons. But why the bahay kubo revived? Evolved?
Going natural? Count the bahay kubo - no plastics, no paints, and the least use of non-biodegradable materials. It is a self-contained system of recycling.
It is energy saving, in fact independent, save some lighting. Fireplace is designed for firewood, windows allow sunlight and breeze freely. There's no need of vacuum cleaner, polisher, and other amenities of an urban home.
Nothing beats Going Natural by having fresh fruits and vegetables, clean air and water, adequate exercise from home and garden chores. And having trees and plants around. That's natural air conditioning.
It's tranquil and cool, no echoing walls and ceiling, in fact it is acoustically efficient to deaden noise. More so with the trees; they absorb sound and dust, and keep humidity and temperature stable. They serve as natural windbreak, and barrier of sudden gusts. The bahay kubo is a way to escape burgeoning city life - from heavy traffic, pollution, high tech, high finance, loaned amenities, busy lanes, to anxiety and depression. It cushions tendency of ostentatious living.
Move over American Bungalow. Here is Bahay Kubo revived and evolved.
Bahay kubo is the symbol of bayanihan or cooperativism. It is relocating a whole and intact house from one place to another in the same neighborhood, on bare shoulders, so to speak, in a festive and quaint atmosphere. It is our dream as a people to be strong the bayanihan way. And to live simply, naturally, happy, healthy, and long, with the whole family.
Mabuhay ang Bahay Kubo. ~
Bayanihan, painting by Lito Barcelona
Reference: Bahay Kubo, Living with Nature, AVR;
Acknowledgment: Sheet Music Lisa Yannucci; painting by Lito Barcelona; photos from Internet.
Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB KHz AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
6. Don't throw away rice hull or "ipa."
Here are 5 practical uses.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Top: Cross-section of rice grain; closeup of grain. Middle: Rice hull stove, building block of rice hull and clay. Bottom: rice hull as litter; newly built vegetable plots. Acknowledgement: Google search, Wikipedia, Internet images
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Rice hull is the outer cover of the rice grain which comprises 25 percent of the total weight. The cover is made up of a pair of hull-shape structures - lemma and palea - which are tough and impregnated with silica and cellulose. Considered waste in rice producing areas, now there are uses which this article would like to share - and recommend.
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1. Rice hull ash protects mung-beans from bean weevil.
Burnt rice hull (ipa) contains silica crystals that are microscopic glass shards capable of penetrating into the conjunctiva of the bean weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus. Once lodged, the crystal causes more damage as the insect moves and struggles, resulting in
infection and desiccation, and ultimately death.
This is the finding of Ethel Niña Catahan in her masteral thesis in biology at the University of Santo Tomas. Catahan tested two types of rice hull ash, One is partly carbonized (black ash) and the other oven-burned (white ash). Both were applied independently in very small amount as either mixed with the beans or as protectant placed at the mouth of the container. In both preparations and methods, mungbeans – and other beans and cereals, for that matter – can be stored for as long as six months without being destroyed by this Coleopterous insect.
The bean weevil is a cosmopolitan insect whose grub lives inside the bean, eating the whole content and leaving only the seed cover at the end of its life cycle. When it is about to emerge the female lays eggs for the next generation. Whole stocks of beans may be rendered unfit not only for human consumption, but for animal feeds as well. It is because the insect leaves a characteristic odor that comes from the insect’s droppings and due to fungal growth that accompanies infestation
2. Preheated rice hull is used to incubate balot eggs.
Simulating the way the mother duck incubates its eggs old folks bury duck eggs in rice hull (ipa) heated under the sun until they become penoy (incipient embryo) or balot (full grown embryo). For commercial production the eggs are held in bundles made of simamay or fishnet), placed in large holding boxes filled with rice hull. They are harvested in batches to meet market schedules.
3. Rice hull compost is good soil conditioner for the garden.
Mix rice hull with other farm residues that are ordinarily used in making compost at varying proportions but not exceeding fifty percent of the total volume. These include animal manure and chicken droppings, dried leaves, peanut "hay" or tops, scums (lumot, Azolla and Nostoc from ponds and rice fields). Add equal amount of top soil to the final product. This is excellent medium for potted plants and for germinating seeds, bulbs, and cuttings. When buying commercial potted plants, examine the medium used; the rice hull is still partly visible.
4. Rice hull as fuel
There are stoves designed for rice hull as fuel. One has a continuous feeding system for commercial use, otherwise ipa is hand-fed for typical kitchen stoves. Rice hull has a high thermal value because it contains silica that increases temperature level. This means faster cooking. To make full use of this advantage, rice hull must first undergo thorough drying usually under the sun. It is then stored in sack for ready use. With the spiraling cost of LPG and electricity - and the dwindling supply of firewood - rice hull as fuel is the best alternative in rice-based areas.
5. Rice hull as litter of livestock and poultry
To solve muddy animal sheds and corrals, spread rice hull for time to time. This is also good for range chicken, and holding pens of animals in the market. Rice hull binds the soil and other materials such as grass and rice hay. When the litter becomes thick and old, replace it with a fresh one. The old litter is a good fertilizer for the orchard and garden. ~
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LESSON on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio. 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday
7. "Palay-isdaan" (Rice-Fish Culture)
An Agro-Ecology Model
Dr Abe V Rotor
Palay-isdaan is a revival of a virtually lost art and indigenous farming system and industry. Since the late fifties, the introduction of pesticides and chemical fertilizers and their rampant use decimated wildlife in ricefields. As a rule therefore, the ricefields must be free of these poisons, for palay-isdaan to succeed.
Top, clockwise: lowland ricefield during monsoon season; harvesting fish ahead of rice harvest as monsoon ends; close-up of Azolla, aquatic fern as natural source of fertilizer, fish food, and mulch in controlling weeds in the ricefield; duck raising may be integrated with rice-fish culture.
This technology is indigenous. What we call palay-isdaan is an innovation of a traditional way of raising fish and other freshwater organisms while the rice plant is growing in the field during the rainy season.
Many wildlife species are found in ricefields as their natural habitat. These are commonly freshwater fish like hito, dalag, gurami, martiniko, and lately, since the fifties, tilapia. Then we have ulang (freshwater lobsters), shrimps, kuhol, suso’, and tulya. Strong rains release these organisms from their hibernation, usually in carabao wallows, ponds, and river basins – or in mud where they were ensconced during summer. The ricefields become one huge lake at the peak of the rainy season, and as the water subsides, these organisms are trapped in the paddies. Farmers pick them up for food, which is indeed a good source of protein for his family. Many find it a sport hunting them, while others find ways of protecting them until they reach maturity. The latter is the basis of palay-isdaan technology, which has these features.
1. The dike (pilapil) must be strong and high enough to prevent the fish to escape. To do this, trenches are dug around the rice field like a moat, two meter wide and one-half meter deep. The soil material is used to rebuild the dike.
2. Another model is to build a wide trench, 3 to 4 meters wide and one-half meter deep, running through the center of the rice paddy. This is usually done in low-lying areas where the water stays much longer. The trench serves as a natural trap for the fish as the surrounding water subsides.
3. A third model is recommended for irrigated areas where the rice field is managed like a fishpond. Here the farmer selects the fish he wants to grow, provides them with supplemental feeds, and gives attention more than what the other two models require. A commercial model would mean converting 30 percent of the total area into trenches.
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Palay-isdaan is a revival of a virtually lost art and indigenous industry. Since the late fifties, the introduction of pesticides and chemical fertilizers and their rampant use decimated wildlife in ricefields. As a rule therefore, unless the ricefields are free of these poisons, palay-isdaan will never succeed.
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4. Because it takes time for the fish to grow to maturity it is advisable to plant traditional varieties which mature in 110 to 130 days. But this is feasible only where the rainy season is long and water supply is readily available. Traditional varieties generally do not need chemical spraying and fertilization.
Well-managed rice-fish farms in Central Luzon and other parts of the country can yield as much as 200 kg of tilapia per hectare. At P100 per kilo, the gross value is P20,000. While this gives around15 percent additional income, the farmer should consider a reduction in rice yield by at least 5 percent. Still palay-isdaan gives more income than rice monoculture.
Irrigated areas can have two fish crops a year, but this is not advisable because of the high cost of irrigation. Besides, it is virtually impossible to grow palagad rice (summer crop) without heavy dependence on chemical pesticides and fertilizers.~
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Palay-isdaan is a practical and cheap source of food and nutrition for the farming family. It provides a natural sport and recreation most especially to children. Palay-isdaan is among the attractions in agro-tourism.
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Acknowledgement: Internet photos
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