Rice marketing margins are substantially greater in the Philippines than in Thailand despite many similarities between the two systems and despite the fact that Philippine rice marketing has a ...competitive structure. We found that rice marketing costs in the Philippines are higher than in Thailand mainly due to higher interest rates in the financial system. Other fundamental factors that also result in higher costs include endowments of water and land, rice price and trade policy, road quality and lack of non-farm job growth. However, the greater costs can only account for about a fourth of the difference in gross margins, implying much higher returns to management in the Philippines despite similar levels of risk and no evidence of collusion. The “excess profits” in the Philippine marketing system suggest there is much to learn about how developing country commodity markets with competitive structures function in actual practice.
Fertilizer recommendations for phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are currently given for very large areas in irrigated rice. However, on-farm research has shown that field-specific recommendations ...would not be necessary for an efficient, meaningful site-specific P and K management. Badly needed are concepts to delineate boundaries of recommendation domains for P and K fertilizer application. The authors propose to divide a larger area into smaller agro-ecological domains with the same/similar characteristics such as uniformity of yield potential, indigenous nutrient supplies, or response to fertilizer. Using five provinces in Central Luzon as an example, boundaries were based on a minimum set of available biophysical parameters that are likely to determine uniformity of characteristics within a spatial domain. Geographical information system (GIS) were used to disintegrate existing information displayed in maps (e.g., soil series). Geo-statistical methods such as fuzzy-K-means cluster analysis were then applied to re-classify these data into a meaningful number of new classes or recommendation domains. The results were evaluated with caution, and the authors recommended that local experts are consulted to verify the validity of these recommendation domains.
Statistical series on the rice economy Castañeda, A. C.,Philippine Rice Research Inst., Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija (Philippines); Casiwan, C. B; Mataia, A. B ...
Philippine Journal of Crop Science (Philippines),
(Mar 2004), Volume:
29, Issue:
1
Journal Article
This project provides comprehensive, reliable, and timely rice and rice-based information to researchers and policymakers, which are consultative references in designing development strategies for ...the rice industry. Activities of the project include primary data collection and updating with assistance from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, processing of data encoded from the Rice-based Farming Household Survey- conducted every five years- to complete the data requirements of the Provincial Socioeconomic and Technological Rice Profiles, and secondary data collection from provincial government offices/agencies to fill in the required time-series and municipality-specific data of provincial profiles. A series of printed materials on rice statistical indicators were published under this project; Regional Rice Statistics, 1994 (includes national and regional data); Provincial Rice Statistics handbook, 1995; Philippine Rice Statistics Handbook, 1970-1996; and Rice Statistics Handbook, 1970-1997. The updated edition of this handbook is yet to be published early this year including data from the previous edition with some additional tables. Likewise, provincial profiles are being prepared for publication. A 10-season detailed data (1998 WS-2003 DS) on farmers' activities from 10 selected provinces are ready for analysis and will made available to other users by requests.
Rice supply and demand analysis for the Philippines Kam, S.P; Hoah, C.T. (International Rice Research Inst., Los Banos, Laguna (Philippines) Francisco, S; Rala, A.R ...
Philippine Journal of Crop Science (Philipines),
(Apr 2002), Volume:
27, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Rice is a major agricultural and food commodity of the Philippines, yet attaining rice self-sufficiency has eluded the country for several years. The issue of food security for the country as a whole ...compels the need to assess and update information in the study of rice supply and demand. This paper focuses on the trend and future status of rice supply in specific regions given its existing and changing quantity and quality of resources, technologies and emerging government policies. The assessment was done using the Rice Supply and Demand Analysis (RSDA) model. This is an integrative model that incorporates intensively the spatial dimension into the supply-demand analysis alongside socio-economic determinants of supply and demand. Potential as well as attainable yields were estimated from the model and combined with cultivated area to generate rice production. Raster GIS was applied to provide the geographical dimension for rice supply analysis. On the other hand, rice demand was estimated using the population distribution and consumption patterns of urban and rural populations in each region. By using this model, various scenarios affecting rice supply and demand are analyzed at both the regional and national level
In the Municipality of San Luis alone, 300 hectares of the current rice soils are 'laboy'. 'Laboy' soil has a very high organic matter content, high water holding capacity, low bulk density and ...nutritional deficiencies. Its soft and 'deep mud' characteristics make field operations difficult. Average rice yield in the area is close to 1 t/ha. Therefore, PhilRice and the local government unit (LGU) of San Luis introduced technologies in the village (Barangay Bacong with 23 farmer-cooperators) to address the problems mentioned. Results showed that introduction of the floating tiller reduced length of tillage operation by 67% and that the machine can be operated by women. The authors observed a stable ratio of insect pests and natural pest enemies and hence recommended not to apply insecticides. Minus-One Element Technique (MOET) test showed that 'laboy' soil had nitrogen (N), potassium (K) and sulfur (S) deficiencies. The Leaf Color Chart (LCC), a handy plastic ruler to assess leaf greenness, was introduced and utilized by the farmers to assess the real time crop need for N fertilizer. Ammonium sulfate (source of N and S) was applied following LCC reading. Application of ammonium sulfate, phosphorus for maintenance, and K fertilizers doubled the grain yield of PSB Rc18 (0.9 to 2.0 t/ha). Consumers and millers preferred PSB Rc18. Based on cost return analysis of palay production for two cropping seasons, farmers gained as much as P2,358.30 to P4,521.50 per hectare. Agricultural technologist played a major role in the village-level integration of lowland rice technologies in the 'laboy' soil areas of San Luis. Agricultural technologist of San Luis were updated on the current rice production technologies, including the usefulness of the introduced technologies to other 'laboy' soils of the province.
This project is a collaborative activity involving a private sector consortium and an international and a national rice research institution recently conducted to validate the design of an ...internet-based information service (IRIS) that would provide more timely and objective data on rice area and production than the rice statistics collection systems currently practised in most Asian countries. The system consists of two components that make use of geospatial tools including remote sensing, GIS and GPS technologies. The remote sensing component comprises a largely automated protocol using multi-date SAR imagery for mapping and estimating rice area and planting dates.The outputs are fed into a production estimation component comprising a crop growth simulation model, which then predicts harvest dates and crop yield using meteorological data. Starting with historical weather data, the prediction can be succesively updated as real-time weather data are made available. Rice area and yield estimates are summarized by administrative boundaries and are offered through a web-based services to users and subscribers. Pilot testing of the data generation component of the system was carried out in three sites covering 81 municipalities of Nueva Ecija, Isabela and Pangasinan provinces for the DS rice crop of 2003/2004. Acquisition of RADARSAT and ENVISAT ASAR data at various dates througout the rice growing season permitted investigation and evaluation of the capacity of the automated SAR processing system to handle multi-platform data. A field campaign was conducted covering 68 municipalities and 667 geo-referenced survey points to collect ground truth and specific rice cropping information in their fields. Daily weather data were collected from 5 surrounding weather stations for the past 10 years, data for the 2003/2004 seasons were available for 3 stations. Processing of the SAR data provided rice area and planting date estimates, which were fed together with the weather data into the crop model. The predicted yields and rice area are reported by municipality. In Nueva Ecija and Isabela, which are covered by the UPRIIS and MARIIS irrigation schemes, yield data were also collected from the National Irrigation Authority water districts for comparison with the predicted yields. The implications of expanding and operationalizing such an information system for rice is discussed based on the experience from this pilot study.
The molecular diversity of the rice varieties planted in farmers' field was analyzed based on currently available data. An off-farm survey was used in determining the varieties planted by the farmers ...and microsatellite molecular markers were used in determining their molecular diversity. At least 10 varieties are planted in more than 70 percent of the area planted to rice every season. IR64, a high yielding variety with good eating quality remains as the most popular variety. Overall, the genetic diversity of varieties planted by the farmers is low. Most of them are related to each other by pedigree. The diversity of the varieties commonly planted in the different regions (Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao Philippines) differed. The results of these analyses and their implications on policies on varietal deployment and in the maintenance of biodiversity will be discussed
The development and promotion of hybrid rice is a strategy being pursued by the government to attain self-sufficiency in rice supplies and improve farmers' welfare. On-farm experiments have shown ...significant yield advantage of hybrid rice over the best-inbred rice varieties. The government launched a special hybrid rice promotion programme during 1999-2000 and has been providing subsidy on seeds as a special incentive to farmers. The private sector, including a Chinese company is also actively involved in research and seed production. But the adoption of hybrid rice is still at a low level. This paper provides some insights into the constraints to expansion of hybrid rice technology.
Hybrid rice is being promoted aggressively in the Philippines through its national hybrid rice commercialization program (HRCP) to increase rice production. From 5,000 ha in the 2001 wet season (WS), ...the total area planted to hybrid rice in the country increase to around 120,000 ha in the 2004 WS. The paper presents farmers experiences in adopting hybrid rice based on results of farm surveys in major hybrid rice-producing provinces. We found that hybrid rice yielded higher than inbred on average. This yield advantage varied by season, by farmer, and by province. On the other hand, despite the higher cost incurred in hybrid rice production, more farmers got a higher net income from hybrid rice than from inbred. The average incremental rate from hybrid rice was 76%and 20% during DS and WS, respectively. The average yield of individual seed growers of Mestizo1 was 700-800 kg ha-1. At the current seed price and with a guaranteed market, hybrid rice seed production was more profitable than inbred. We conclude that focusing promotion and commercialization of hybrid rice in more suitable areas ensure adoption and improve productivity. In less suitable areas, research and development (R and D) activities on new varieties, adaption trials to determine which variety is suitable in specific locations, and crop management research must be sustained. The lower prices of seed will probably increase the demand for hybrid rice from farmers. Even if seeds subsidies were phased out, farmers will continue to plant hybrids, provided they perform better and give more profits than other varieties. Finally, providing technical support to hybrid seed growers and encouraging the participation of private seed companies in marketing and R and D for new hybrids should be continued.
Makings of an internet-based rice information service (IRIS): piloting in the Philippines Holecz, F. (Sarmap s.a Cascine Di Barico CH 6989 Purasca (Switzerland)); Kam, S.P., van Valkengoed, E., Barbiere, M., Casiwan, C.B., Asilo, S.L., Santos, L.A., Manalili, R.G., Collado, W.B., Maunahan, A.P
Philippine Journal of Crop Science (Philippines),
20/May , Volume:
30, Issue:
1
Conference Proceeding
A collaborative study involving a private sector consortium and an international and a national rice research institution was recently conducted to validate the design of an internet-based ...information service that would provide more timely and objective data on rice area and production than the rice statistics collection systems currently practiced in most Asian countries. The system consists of two components that make use of the geo-spatial tools including remote sensing, GIS and GPS technologies. The remote sensing component comprises a largely automated protocol using multi-data SAR imagery for mapping and estimating rice area and planting dates. These outputs are fed into a production estimation component comprising a crop growth simulation model, which then predicts harvest dates and crop yield using meteorological data. The results showed that the use of limited number of image acquisitions induces larger errors for the detection of planting dates and land cover classification. In Pangasinan Philippines, only 78% of the planting dates were correctly detected because of fewer image acquisitions compared to Nueva Ecija (93%) and Isabela (89%). In the prediction of rice yield, the accuracy of the IRIS yield estimation relative to fieldwork data and the NIA Statistics showed 85% and 84%, respectively. It is difficult to say which yield figure is the most correct one. However, the IRIS yield predictions can probably be increased slightly by using meteorological data from more stations as compared to the currently gathered data from only 3 stations as experienced from the results of other Asian countries.
