Agriculture is the solution of our Poverty

Philippines is a very rich country in terms of land fertility. As a matter of fact if thrown away a seed at your backyard after a week or a month surely that plant will grown. I heard also that Mindanao alone can feed the whole world according to Japanese. Well, I agree on it. Try to travel from from Butuan to Davao, Davao to General Santos and anywhere from Mindanao the surrounding is golden green. The plant able to bear fruits. Maybe if our government believe that through agriculture we can be a rich country. If only we believe that through cultivating our land we can uplift our living then no one will suffer from poverty.

Variety of Rice and Its Characteristics

Farming is a very challenging profession. Some say it is a gamble, since there are so many factors that may affect the outcome of your farm. I know many farmers that fails on this profession, but I can pinpoint farmers who are successful also. So, what really needed to be successful in this field. Well, its a rule of life, to be successful you have to know everything about it, be industrious, and always ask the guidance from our Lord God. The first basic step to win this gamble is knowing the variety of rice and its characteristics. So take a look of the table shown below.

Irrigated Lowland
Varieties Characteristics
Nahalin or PSB Rc2	High Yielding; medium maturing; Resistant to tungro; good grain quality
Molawin or PSB Rc4	High yielding; early maturing; resistant to blast; good grain quality
Carranglan or PSB Rc6	High yielding; medium maturing; moderate reaction to major diseases; good grain quality
Talavera or PSB Rc8	High yielding; moderately resistant to stemborer; good grain quality with high percent acceptability
Pagsanjan or PSB Rc10	High yielding; very early maturing; resistant to blast and moderately resistant to most insect pests
Ala or PSB Rc18	High yielding; moderate reaction to major diseases and insect pests; high headrice recovery; good grain quality with high acceptability
Chico or PSB Rc20	High yielding; early maturing; moderate reaction to major pests and diseases; grain acceptability like IR64
Liliw or PSB Rc22	High yielding; intermediate reaction to pests and diseases; excellent grain quality like IR74 and IR64
Magat (hybrid) or PSB Rc26H	High yielding; performs best during dry season; resistant to blast; good grain quality with high percentage acceptability
Agno or PSB Rc28	High yielding; lodging resistant; resistant to blast; good grain quality
Agus or PSB Rc30	High yielding; intermediate reaction to most diseases and insect pests; superior grain quality
Jaro or PSB Rc 32	Recommended for dry season; resistant to bacterial leaf blight and brown planthoppers; good eating quality
Burdagol or PSB Rc34	High yielding; resistant to most diseases; considered as special rice
Gandara or PSB Rc52	High yielding; early maturing; moderate to insect pests ands diseases;good grain quality with high percentage acceptability
Abra or PSB Rc54	Better wet season performance; early maturing; resistant to blast; high milling recovery
Dapitan or PSB Rc56	High yielding; well suited for wet and dry season planting; wide adaptability
Mayapa or PSB Rc58	High yielding; resistant to bacterial leaf blight; high milling potentials and good sensory qualities
Kabacan or PSB Rc64	Perform best during dry season; high milling potentials; good eating quality
Agusan or PSB Rc66	Performs best during dry season; resistant to bacterial leaf blight; high milling recovery
Mestizo (hybrid) or PSB Rc72H	High yielding; moderate reaction to major diseases; good grain quality
IR 36	Resistant to blast, bacterial blight, and grassy stunt; susceptible to tungro; high milling recovery
IR42	Resistant to blast, bacterial blight, and grassy stunt; susceptible to tungro; high milling recovery; mildly resistant to stemborer
IR64	Resistant to blast, bacterial blight, and grassy stunt; susceptible to tungro; high milling recovery; high sensory acceptability

Varieties	Characteristics
Rainfed Lowland
Caliraya or PSB Rc12	Drought tolerant; high yielding; early maturing; good grain quality
Rio Grande or PSB Rc14	Drought tolerant; high yielding; early maturing; good grain quality
Ennano or PSB Rc16	Good for dry seeding culture; high yielding; acceptable grain quality
Cagayan, or PSB Rc24	Good for dry seeding culture; high yielding; drought tolerant at early vegetative stages
Ma-ayon or PSB Rc36	Drought tolerant; better eating quality
Rinara or PSB Rc38	Drought tolerant; acceptable grain quality
Chayong or PSB Rc40	Drought tolerant; resistant to blast; good grain quality
Baliwag or PSB Rc42	Drought tolerant; good for dry seeding culture; resistant to blast; good grain quality
Tugatog or PSB Rc60	Good for dry seeding culture; acceptable grain quality
Naguilan or PSB Rc62	Good for dry-seeding culture; resistant blast; good grain quality
Sacobia or PSB Rc68	Good for dry-seeding culture; good grain quality
Bamban or PSB Rc70	Good for dry-seeding culture; resistant to blast; good grain quality

How to Control the Black Bug

Black bug is one of the pest in the rice field that gives problems to the farmers. It will reduce your production because it will eat the sap of the rice plant and its urine will cause a rice burn. According to the expert ten adults per hill can cause losses of up to 35% in some rice. So how we can control, if not, reduce the effect of black bug? This is the suggested methods given to us by the expert:

One of the cultural control practices to reduce the population of the black bug is to maintain a clean field by removing the weeds and drying the rice field during plowing. Rice varieties of the same maturity date may be planted to break the insect’s cycle. Direct-seeded rice crops tend to have less tillers in one planting point and thus discourage population growth. During early infestation, the water level in the field may be raised for 2-3 days to force the insects to move upwards. Flooding the fields can also cause higher egg mortality. After harvest, fields might be plowed to remove remaining insects.

Mechanical control measures include the use of mercury bulbs as light traps for egg-laying adults. Light trapping of insects should start 5 days before and after the full moon.

In the field, there are biological control agents such as small wasps that parasitize the eggs. Ground beetles, spiders, crickets, and red ants attack the eggs, nymphs, and adults. Both the eggs and the nymphs are fed-upon by coccinellid beetles. Ducks and toads also eat the nymphs and adults. There are 3 species of fungi attacking the nymphs and adults.

Two IRRI varieties resistant to black bugs are available.

For chemical control, foliar spraying of insecticides directed at the base of the rice plant is the most effective.

Source

Rubber Nursery Management

At last i found the best methods of planting the rubber based on the Mindanao, Philippines Climate. On this site all the preparation from choosing a seed, budding and nursery management was discussed. All you need to do is to find time to understand and apply all the methods.

Choosing a Right Variety of Rice

Plant the right variety Farmers often prefer new rice varieties, believing that these are always high yielding. However, a rice variety may be released based on reasons other than yield (e.g. good grain quality, resistance to pests and diseases, tolerance to cold or drought). Consult with your agricultural technologist on the best performing rice varieties in your area. 1. Factors to consider in choosing a rice variety to plant a. Adaptability to local climatic conditions. The varieties that you plant must be compatible with the local climate. There are varieties suitable for irrigated lowlands, rainfed lowlands, cool-elevated areas, saline-prone areas, and uplands. b. Duration or maturity. Varieties with shorter maturing time are less exposed to pests and peak typhoon periods. They also allow you to grow two or more crops a year; thus, increasing farm income. However, longer maturing modern varieties have higher yield potential because of better vegetative growth. c. Tolerance to drought. Varieties that can thrive under dry conditions for some time are advantageous especially when the crop is dry seeded or when irrigation is delayed. Varieties for rainfed and upland areas have some degrees of drought tolerance. Some of these varieties are PSB Rc1, PSB Rc14, PSB Rc16, PSB Rc36, PSB Rc38, PSB Rc40, and PSB Rc42. d. Tolerance to pests. Use varieties that are resistant to major pests common in your locality. e. Tolerance to problem soils. There are varieties that grow even in adverse soil conditions such as saline soils, zinc-deficient soils, phosphorus and iron-deficient soils, excess manganese and aluminum, and toxic soils. PSB Rc1, for example, is suited for acidic soils while PSB Rc48, PSB Rc50, PSB Rc84, PSB Rc86, PSB Rc88, and PSB Rc90 are suited for saline-affected soils. f. Resistance to lodging. The factors that affect lodging are: plant height, light intensity, spacing, amount of soil fertility, the method of crop establishment, wind velocity and rain, type of sheath, stem thickness, and root structure. Some of the varieties resistant to lodging include IR8, PSB Rc2, PSB Rc30, PSB Rc34, and PSB Rc74. g. Tolerance to water submergence. This characteristic is especially important when there is continuous rain and the floodwater does not recede in 2-3 days. 2. Note that the variety that you may choose does not have to possess all of the abovementioned characteristics. Select varieties that meet the needs and problems of your particular locality. 3. Minimize pest problems in your farm by practicing synchronous planting. This means you and your neighboring farmers (covering at least 20-hectare contiguous farm) should plant your rice crop within less than a month. 4. Plant certified seeds or good seeds of improved varieties suited to your farm. Certified seeds are pure, clean, full, uniform in size, and have a minimum germination rate of 85%. Use of certified seeds leads to healthy seedlings that grow faster and uniformly. All this can contribute to a 5-10% increase in yield. 5. Remember that healthy seedlings have more roots, grow faster, and produce a more even stand than poor quality seedlings. Thus, certified/good seeds ensure higher yields. Source: Open Academy

Flower Induction in Durian

Durian will soon be fruit for all season"

Durian has often been described as "a fruit that tastes like heaven but smells like hell".
However, to the ordinary durian consumers who are mostly minimum wage earners, the "hell"
pact is not the smell but rather the price,especially during the off-season, when prices could
become prohibitively high due to scarcity of supply.

But thanks to a study conducted by Roman Armenio, Jr., Myrna S. Cantilla and Milani Abad of
the Department of Agriculture-Southern Mindanao Integrated Agriculture Research Center
(DA-SMIARC), it is now possible to produce durian anytime of the year.

According to the study entitled "Flower induction in durian", certain growth regulators such as
Paclobutrazol and Multi-K, when sprayed on durian trees of bearing age at the time when the
flushes (new leaves) are already mature, will promote off-season flowering 10 to 21 days from
application.

The study further revealed that average number of off-season fruits production per tree was over 80 for those sprayed with Paclobutrazol and over 64 for those with Multi-K.

For durian farmers, this technology could mean additional income in terms of increased yield and
relatively higher prices during off-season while for the common durian consumer, more durian
fruit supply during off-season would eventually result to a slight decrease in prices.

Durian Pest and Disease Control Management

Insects	PlantParts/Stage of Growth Attacked	Control Measures
Beetles	Young seedlings	Spray with Roxion or Azodrin
Twig borers	Young plants, small branches or twigs of old trees	Prune damaged branch and burn
Psyllids	New shoots and leaves in young and old trees	Spray with Roxion, Azodrin or Decis
Brown scale	Young shoots and leaves	Spray with Roxion or Azodrin
Haplaphalora sp. (Bao-bao)	Young shoots, leaves, unopened flowers and fruitlets	Spray with Decis, Roxion or Gusathion
Diseases	PlantParts/Stage of Growth Attacked	Control Measures
Path canker or stem canker	Roots, trunk	Spray with Ridomil or Alliete
Pink diseases	Twigs and smaller branches	Spray with Tridemorph (Calixim); Triadimefon (Bayleton); Copper hydroxide (Kocide) or Bordeaux mixture
Rhizoctonia	Foliage	Spray with Triamefon- Bayleton, Thiophanate methyl (Topsin M)

source: http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:y0DT5-jmY38J:www.da.gov.ph/
wps/wcm/connect/resources/file/eb590c401514538/DURIAN.pdf+
distance+of+durian+during+planting&hl=tl&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=ph