TABUK CITY, KALINGA – Representatives of the SL8 Agritech, a private hybrid rice seed producer, blamed the media for the uproar over SL8 hybrid rice seeds imported from China which it sold to local farmers this cropping season.
Farmers in many parts of Luzon complained that the seeds flowered prematurely and contained a lot of impurities.
Jade Pedres, SL8 technical sales representative, claimed that the misinformation on the imported seeds took place when mediamen in Nueva Ecija where the news first broke out relied on second hand information and did not conduct their own investigation.
Pedres said that the issue has since died down in Nueva Ecija when one farmer who planted the seed harvested 174 cavans from his one hectare farm.
“Farmers here in Tabuk and other places may not have noticed the difference with the seeds had not the media blown up the story,” Pedres told the media here.
Pedres together with two SL8 technicians came to Tabuk City March 6 to meet for the second time with farmers belonging to the Balong Norte Irrigators’ Association (BNIA) who have also been alarmed by the premature flowering of some hills of their SL8 rice stands.
Last March 2, BNIA President Nelson Lagaso informed the local media that after only 37 days, some of the plants have flowered and what was worse was that the grains are sterile.
He said that when SL 8 Agritech people came two weeks earlier, they told the farmers not to worry because the flowering plants are only two percent of the crop but as of March 2 the percentage has gone up to seven percent and each day, more flowers continue to appear.
He said that they are worried just in case the second wave of flowers will not also be filled and that some of their members were already on the verge of giving up on their crops.
Lagaso informed the company representatives during the March 6 meeting that if their crops will not yield at least 60 cavans per hectare, the BNIA is determined to take legal action against the SL8 Agritech to recover their losses.
He said that they will include City Agriculturist Gilbert Cawis in the charges so that he will help pressure the SL8 Agritech to compensate them for their losses because it was him who offered them the China-produced SL8 seeds.
Pedres responded that the farmers should take care of their crops because the company is confident that there is nothing wrong with the seeds except for the little impurities.
“We are the No. 1 hybrid rice seed producer in the country and we are not about to allow our name to be ruined,” he said even as he assured the farmers that the remaining plants that still have to boot will catch up with the booting plants.
To prove the confidence of the company in the imported seeds, Pedres said that they have set a farmers’ field day in the BNIA came harvest time.
A farmers’ field day is intended to show farmers in the locality the good performance of a certain rice variety and encourage more farmers to plant the variety.
During the meeting, Cawis denied the allegation of Lagaso that he forced the BNIA to plant the China-produced SL8 variety saying that it was the only available seeds when the BNIA members were looking for hybrid seeds.
The BNIA members were compelled to plant hybrid rice because that is one of the requirements for their agricultural loans from the Land Bank of the Philippines.
Cawis expressed the confidence that based on the present stand of the BNIA rice crops, the members will have a good harvest.
He acknowledged, however, that during the previous seasons when Tabuk City farmers planted SL8 seeds, they had no problems with impurities.
BNIA member Jerry Doctolero said that so that local farmers will feel secure over their rice crops, the SL8 Agritech and the Office of City Agricultural Services should make available SL8 seeds produced in the country and not those imported from China.
Cawis said that during this cropping season, the SL8 Agritech was unable to produce in its Davao and Tabuk City production areas the needed volume to answer the demand for its seeds and that was the reason it imported seeds from China. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW
Farmers in many parts of Luzon complained that the seeds flowered prematurely and contained a lot of impurities.
Jade Pedres, SL8 technical sales representative, claimed that the misinformation on the imported seeds took place when mediamen in Nueva Ecija where the news first broke out relied on second hand information and did not conduct their own investigation.
Pedres said that the issue has since died down in Nueva Ecija when one farmer who planted the seed harvested 174 cavans from his one hectare farm.
“Farmers here in Tabuk and other places may not have noticed the difference with the seeds had not the media blown up the story,” Pedres told the media here.
Pedres together with two SL8 technicians came to Tabuk City March 6 to meet for the second time with farmers belonging to the Balong Norte Irrigators’ Association (BNIA) who have also been alarmed by the premature flowering of some hills of their SL8 rice stands.
Last March 2, BNIA President Nelson Lagaso informed the local media that after only 37 days, some of the plants have flowered and what was worse was that the grains are sterile.
He said that when SL 8 Agritech people came two weeks earlier, they told the farmers not to worry because the flowering plants are only two percent of the crop but as of March 2 the percentage has gone up to seven percent and each day, more flowers continue to appear.
He said that they are worried just in case the second wave of flowers will not also be filled and that some of their members were already on the verge of giving up on their crops.
Lagaso informed the company representatives during the March 6 meeting that if their crops will not yield at least 60 cavans per hectare, the BNIA is determined to take legal action against the SL8 Agritech to recover their losses.
He said that they will include City Agriculturist Gilbert Cawis in the charges so that he will help pressure the SL8 Agritech to compensate them for their losses because it was him who offered them the China-produced SL8 seeds.
Pedres responded that the farmers should take care of their crops because the company is confident that there is nothing wrong with the seeds except for the little impurities.
“We are the No. 1 hybrid rice seed producer in the country and we are not about to allow our name to be ruined,” he said even as he assured the farmers that the remaining plants that still have to boot will catch up with the booting plants.
To prove the confidence of the company in the imported seeds, Pedres said that they have set a farmers’ field day in the BNIA came harvest time.
A farmers’ field day is intended to show farmers in the locality the good performance of a certain rice variety and encourage more farmers to plant the variety.
During the meeting, Cawis denied the allegation of Lagaso that he forced the BNIA to plant the China-produced SL8 variety saying that it was the only available seeds when the BNIA members were looking for hybrid seeds.
The BNIA members were compelled to plant hybrid rice because that is one of the requirements for their agricultural loans from the Land Bank of the Philippines.
Cawis expressed the confidence that based on the present stand of the BNIA rice crops, the members will have a good harvest.
He acknowledged, however, that during the previous seasons when Tabuk City farmers planted SL8 seeds, they had no problems with impurities.
BNIA member Jerry Doctolero said that so that local farmers will feel secure over their rice crops, the SL8 Agritech and the Office of City Agricultural Services should make available SL8 seeds produced in the country and not those imported from China.
Cawis said that during this cropping season, the SL8 Agritech was unable to produce in its Davao and Tabuk City production areas the needed volume to answer the demand for its seeds and that was the reason it imported seeds from China. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW
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