Farmers explored high-yielding rice varieties to increase their production in a field tour organized by the Department of Agriculture Ilocos Region during the Provincial Rice Technology Forum (PRTF) for the dry season on Wednesday.

The PRTF featured 11 agricultural companies that presented their latest rice varieties in Barangay Manaol, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan.

Participating companies included Leads Agri Ventures Corporation, TAO Seeds, Advanta Seeds Philippine Incorporated, Enviro Scope, Green and Grow Tech Incorporated, Seedworks, SL Agri-tech Corporation, Syngenta, Pro Agri Seed Corporation, Ramgo, and Bioseed.

Erwin Abayan, president of the Villanueva Farmers’ Association, expressed his gratitude to have participated in the activity.

“Daytoy outcome na ti [PRTF] tadta napintas,” Abayan said. “Adu iti nakita mi nga naduma-duma nga variety nga dapat maimula tapnu tumaas ti ani mi met nga mannalon.” (This PRTF outcome is admirable. We saw many different varieties that we should plant to increase our harvest.)

The demo farms, established last November, provided farmers with a firsthand look at the showcased 29 varieties’ performance.

The PRTF, also known as the hybrid rice challenge, aims to identify high-yielding, suitable local varieties and increase farmers’ awareness of hybrid rice.

Last year’s wet season PRTF, held at the same site, saw Syngenta’s RH9000 lead with 9.50 metric tons per hectare (MT/ha), followed by Bioseeds’ Biorice Bonus with 9.12 mt/ha, Pro Agri Seed Corporation’s LP2096 with 8.24 mt/ha, Leads Agri’s Jackpot 102 with 7.47 mt/ha, and Bioseed’s Biorice Zarap with 7.10 mt/ha.