San Jose City, Nueva Ecija — A total of 457,782.61 hectares of Central Luzon land were planted with high-quality palay during this wet season.

According to the data from the Rice Banner Program of the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 3, farmers from the region utilized 457,782.61 hectares of land during this wet season.

He added that as of 6 October 2023, a total of 71,568.06 hectares planted with palay have been already harvested.

This is mainly due to the various agricultural interventions that the government has made to uplift the farmers of the country. Farmers now plant the NSIC RC 402 during the rainy season and hybrid rice during the dry season.

The PhilRice-developed NSIC RC 402 or the Tubigan 36 is hoped to spur substantial increase in yield of rice farmers with its potential yield at 14.0 tons per hectare. With an average yield of 5.1 t/ha and 5.5 t/ha, the NSIC RC 402 rice has a maturity of 106 and 107 days.

The use of such agricultural interventions has been proven to attain success in yields through the adoption of the new agricultural practices.

According to Binabuyan Farmers Association chairman Fernando Salvador, the DA's support to the rice farmers has played a significant role in boosting their income.

He added that the inbred certified seeds from the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Seed Program, as well as new farming techniques and practices they learned and adopted, doubled his yields.

In the past years, Salvador said their palay yields normally averaged only 60 to 70 cavans per hectare but now, this has gone up to 100 to 120 cavans per hectare.

He added the suitable rice seed varieties being recommended by the DA-Philippine Rice Research Institute helped boost their production.