WOULD YOU BELIEVE that one tiny rice seedling with just two leaves at planting time can yield 700 grams of grains? That’s what Dennis Miguel proved when he planted rice in black plastic nursery bags following the “System of Rice Intensification” or SRI developed by Cornell University experts.
Dennis, 35, of Isabela is a bachelor who studied nursing but who became a farmer by choice. First, he partnered with a landowner in growing melons in Cauayan, Isabela. Although growing melons was very profitable (he had a share of R500,000 in one season), he gave that up because he wanted to master the art of producing rice the SRI way, and he was dreaming of one day breaking the world record rice harvest of 20.2 tons per hectare achieved in India by Sumant Kumar.
His obsession with breaking the world record rice harvest started after he got hold of a manual on SRI which had complete, simple instructions on how to grow rice the SRI way. He encouraged seven graduating students from the Isabela State UniversityCauayan Campus to assist him in the project. The first experiment in growing SRI rice was done while he was still with his partner in melon planting. It only involved the planting of 30 plants in black plastic nursery bags.
This story is from the June 2017 edition of Agriculture.
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This story is from the June 2017 edition of Agriculture.
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