Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija – Comprising about 19% of the total labor cost in rice production, there, indeed, is a pressing need to look for new ways of doing land preparation. The Reduced Tillage Technology (RTT) is an alternative system of land preparation for irrigated areas where plowing is not applied. Rice stubbles, weeds, and the scattered rice straws are pressed two to three times using the hand tractor’s paddy wheels attached with riding-type leveler or by drop down-spiked tooth harrow. The pressing is done at a 5 to7-day interval. After the final leveling, crop establishment is done either by transplanting, direct seeding using the drumseeder, or by manual broadcasting. RTT was piloted in 2012 in Talavera and Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. After the success of its initial implementation, 14 more towns in Pangasinan, Pampanga, and Ilocos Sur were added as demonstration sites. “Yield increase relative to using the conventional tillage method and savings generated on land preparation were the parameters used in measuring the success of the study,” said Ruben Miranda, study lead. He explained that for 3 consecutive seasons, the average yield of the demonstration sites were relatively higher at 5.35 t/ha, 4.92 tons/ha for conventional tillage. In addition, farmers saved P3, 380.00/ha per season. “Savings can be attributed to the faster operation time and lesser fuel consumption. In RTT, farmers can save...
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