Philrice to farmers: Practice recommended seeding rate

THE Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rice Research Institute (Da-philrice) is urging farmers to follow the recommended seeding rate in rice production for better yields and reduced production cost.

Seeding rate refers to the amount of rice seeds planted per hectare. Daphilrice recommends 40 kilograms per hectare for transplanted rice while 60 to 80 kilograms per hectare is promoted for direct-seeded.

“When this is followed, rice plants grow healthier because it can receive sufficient sunlight and evenly absorb nutrients from the soil. It can also help produce productive tillers, which would mean higher yields. This recommendation results in good yield and lower farm expenses,” Rizal Corales, chief science research specialist at Daphilrice, explained.

Previously, the usual seeding rate of our farmers ranges from 200 to 250 kilogram/hectare. Many Filipino farmers are using around 100 to 150 kg of seeds per hectare. Some farmers note that extra seedlings serve as “buffer” during attacks of pests like snails and birds.

However, Corales noted that planting beyond the recommended rate makes farmers spend more and yields unabundant harvest because the plants may produce fewer tillers owing to close spacing, which affect the plants’ ability to receive sunlight and nutrients.

“If we compute it, there are at least 1.6 million seeds in 40 kilogram. A 1-hectare farm needs 750,000 seedlings, at 3 seedlings per hill. If high-quality seeds have a germination rate of at least 85 percent, then 40 kilograms of seeds can produce 1.3 million seedlings. There could be around 600,000 extra seedlings that farmers can use for replanting in cases when pests cause damage,” Corales stressed.