DOST in E. Visayas upbeat about new rice technology

TACLOBAN CITY (PNA) – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) regional office here is upbeat about the application of carrageenan plant as a rice plant growth enhancer to curb the rice yield shortage in the region.

DOST Regional Director Edgardo Esperancilla is hopeful that business firms will mass produce the carrageenan plant growth promoter piloted in Luzon last year.

“Based on pilot testing, it was found that rice output went up to up to 30 percent. This will help a lot in the attainment of our rice self-sufficiency target,” Esperancilla said on Monday.

Citing pilot testing reports, the DOST said some farmers tilling a pilot area of 359.46 hectares got an average yield increase of 24.81 percent from 100.89 bags per hectare the previous harvest season to 126 bags after the technology application.

The DOST-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute developed the technology in partnership with the National Crop Protection Center of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños through DOST’s Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development.

This plant food supplement for rice and corn is an indigestible polysaccharide (carbohydrates) extracted from edible seaweeds.

The plant food supplement is designed to boost the plant’s resistance to pests and diseases.

This year’s estimated rice output in Eastern Visayas is 958,563 metric tons (MT), higher than the 945,565 MT harvest in 2017. Favorable weather could help the region attain its 1.086 million MT target for this year, according to the Department of Agriculture.

There are at least 272,451 hectares of land planted with rice, slightly lower than the 272,889 hectares cultivated in 2017 due to Typhoon Urduja that battered some areas of the region in December last year.