Can he break world record rice harvest?
On this very day, today, April 20, 2017, we will know if Dennis Miguel will succeed in breaking the world record rice harvest of 22.4 metric tons fresh weight or 448 cavans achieved by Sumant Kumar from India in November 2011.
To surpass the record yield has been the obsession of Dennis who has planted a 1.5 hectare area in Purok 6, Brgy. Luna, Santiago, Isabela in his effort to achieve his big dream. He has used the so-called SRI or System of Rice Intensification technology. To help him take special care of the rice plants, he got the assistance of a team of OJT (on the job training) students from the Isabela State University.
The students worked in the field from land preparation, planting, weeding and many other chores to make sure the plants will grow beautifully.
He has invited us to witness the harvesting of his palay crop today and we are attending together with Anthony Cortes who also helped by providing the Supravim that was applied to the crop. Supravim is a plant growth booster that is sprayed on the leaves. It is claimed to induce development of more numerous roots that are longer, enabling the plants to absorb more nutrients from the soil and to withstand water stress better. It is also responsible for inducing heavy tillering resulting in more grains produced.
We will be reporting what we will witness today in our articles in the Bulletin, Agriculture Magazine and the vernacular magazines published by Manila Bulletin.
Earlier, Dennis sent us beautiful pictures of his rice plants during the vegetative stage. He reported that two weeks before panicle initiation, his plants had already achieved an average of 40 tillers per hill. If they will all bear good panicles, the yield could really