SIX HECTARES located in composite areas in the main campus in Batac are being prepared for rice production this year.

According to Dr. Jaime Salazar, chief of the agribusiness projects of the university, the preparation of the areas has lagged behind the projected production time frame because of the limited supply of irrigation water which is very crucial in rice production.

“However, despite being late, we were able to address the situation in the early part of August by digging deeper the irrigation canal adjacent to the Teatro Ilocandia building so that we can channel the water from the Quiaoit River to the production areas,” he said.

“Since we started late in preparing the lands due to the scarcity of rainwater, we will still try our best to intensify our production target this year so that we could help boost the staple requirement of the province,” he said adding that with the six hectares that have been planted, the university is expecting some 780-900 sacks of palay before the year ends.

Each year, the university is producing 130-150 sacks of palay from a one-hectare farm using high yielding varieties such as Sl-11H, NSIC R286, PSB IR 42, PSB IR 64, NSIC 214, and NSIC Rc 272, among other varieties that have been tested to produce high yields in the lowlands. These varieties are also resistant to common pests and diseases.

Meanwhile, the university is experiencing an extremely different cropping calendar this year due to the effects of climate change. Despite this, however, the university hopes to increase its rice buffer stock as long as it can provide the right amount of water needed by the crop.

This year, MMSU personnel involved in rice production based their cropping calendar for rice on the rainfall probability in the different areas of Batac City. Based on this year’s calendar, the rice crop can have the right amount of water if it is sowed in June to July and transplanted in July to August.

This planting method will still give the plants their highest water needs because of the peak rainfall in August to September. If no typhoon occurs, the crop would be harvested at the end of the rainy season, or even earlier, because no heavy rainfall would occur during harvesting. Also, the maturity period of rice could be timed during the later part of the wet season.

This change of cropping pattern this year is also based on the agro-climatic zones of Ilocos Norte. It also takes into account the agronomic characteristics of the rice varieties suited to the lowland areas like those in the MMSU campus.

The rice planting calendar in the campus also coincides with the rainfall pattern of the different towns of Ilocos Norte. For instance, among the 23 towns, Solsona is classified as wet zone, because it is usually affected by the climate of Cagayan Valley, Kalinga, and Apayao. Rainfall is uniformly distributed during the wet season and still expected at the beginning of the dry season.

Among the southern and northern towns, Badoc, Burgos, and Laoag City are now receiving low amount of rain this year and are considered as semi-barren zones. Barren zones are unprofitable areas for rice. However, they can still become productive as long as they have enough irrigation.

If no irrigation is available, one can plant alternative crops such as garlic, onion, mungbean, peanut or any other legumes which tolerate drought. After the wet season and during the onset of the dry season, supplemental irrigation is necessary to meet the water needs of rice. That is, if farmers decide to plant rice. If supplemental irrigation is available, a second or third cropping is probable.