NUEVA ECIJA – Several farmers are now finding it more lucrative to engage in contract growing of hybrid rice.
The hybrid rice, though, is not of the common variety. It is intended for the high-end market or the Class A, B, and upper C consumers.
This premium hybrid rice comes under the name Doña Maria Jasponica and the Doña Maria Miponica. They were developed and are now marketed by the SL Agritech Corporation, the same company that produced the SL-8H hybrid rice variety.
Several farmers in Central Luzon, particularly Nueva Ecija, and in other parts of the country have entered into agreement with the SL Agritech Corporation for the production of these rice varieties on contract or buy-back scheme.
Under the agreement, the farmers are provided the seeds and the inputs whose corresponding costs are deducted when they sell the produce to the corporation. They are also assisted by technicians of the corporation to ensure success in growing and production of these hybrid rice varieties.
The varieties come under the name SL-9H and SL-7 H.
What is more enticing to this scheme is that the corporation buys the harvest at one peso per kilogram more than the prevailing price of rough rice during harvest time.
“We are expanding our contract growing areas in the country to meet the demand for these two premium rice,” Henry Lim, chairman and chief operating officer of the SL Agritech Corporation, said in an interview
Marcial Aaron, consultant of the corporation, said that several hectares more of rice lands than the current 2,000 hectares planted every year with these two varieties. More than a thousand farmers are now benefiting from this contract growing scheme, he said.
Sold in vacuum-sealed packs of two, five and 10 kilograms, in sacks of 25 kilograms, and packs of 300 grams, these two premium rice varieties are available in leading malls and food chain in the country. They are now favored by top Japanese and Filipino restaurants elsewhere.
The two rice variants combine the fragrant aroma of Jasmine rice and the excellent eating quality of Japanese rice, the corporation explained.
Another kind of rice being promoted by the corporation out of the two premium rice varieties is Jasponica brown rice.
Although in the market for quite a while now, these premium rice varieties were officially launched by the corporation only three weeks ago.
Lim, meanwhile, said that the corporation has entered into an agreement with the state-run Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation for the production and distribution of SL-H seeds in that country.
A Bangladeshi farmer, Abu Noor Md. Ferdous, who was with the Bangladesh agriculture officials during the signing of the agreement in the SL-Agritech Corporation office in Makati City recently, said the farmers in his country find this rice variety as very suited to their conditions and can give more harvest of rice from their farms.
Lim said SL-8H variety is now being used by the farmers in Indonesia and Vietnam.
The hybrid rice, though, is not of the common variety. It is intended for the high-end market or the Class A, B, and upper C consumers.
This premium hybrid rice comes under the name Doña Maria Jasponica and the Doña Maria Miponica. They were developed and are now marketed by the SL Agritech Corporation, the same company that produced the SL-8H hybrid rice variety.
Several farmers in Central Luzon, particularly Nueva Ecija, and in other parts of the country have entered into agreement with the SL Agritech Corporation for the production of these rice varieties on contract or buy-back scheme.
Under the agreement, the farmers are provided the seeds and the inputs whose corresponding costs are deducted when they sell the produce to the corporation. They are also assisted by technicians of the corporation to ensure success in growing and production of these hybrid rice varieties.
The varieties come under the name SL-9H and SL-7 H.
What is more enticing to this scheme is that the corporation buys the harvest at one peso per kilogram more than the prevailing price of rough rice during harvest time.
“We are expanding our contract growing areas in the country to meet the demand for these two premium rice,” Henry Lim, chairman and chief operating officer of the SL Agritech Corporation, said in an interview
Marcial Aaron, consultant of the corporation, said that several hectares more of rice lands than the current 2,000 hectares planted every year with these two varieties. More than a thousand farmers are now benefiting from this contract growing scheme, he said.
Sold in vacuum-sealed packs of two, five and 10 kilograms, in sacks of 25 kilograms, and packs of 300 grams, these two premium rice varieties are available in leading malls and food chain in the country. They are now favored by top Japanese and Filipino restaurants elsewhere.
The two rice variants combine the fragrant aroma of Jasmine rice and the excellent eating quality of Japanese rice, the corporation explained.
Another kind of rice being promoted by the corporation out of the two premium rice varieties is Jasponica brown rice.
Although in the market for quite a while now, these premium rice varieties were officially launched by the corporation only three weeks ago.
Lim, meanwhile, said that the corporation has entered into an agreement with the state-run Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation for the production and distribution of SL-H seeds in that country.
A Bangladeshi farmer, Abu Noor Md. Ferdous, who was with the Bangladesh agriculture officials during the signing of the agreement in the SL-Agritech Corporation office in Makati City recently, said the farmers in his country find this rice variety as very suited to their conditions and can give more harvest of rice from their farms.
Lim said SL-8H variety is now being used by the farmers in Indonesia and Vietnam.
