DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of the Secretary
Elliptical Rd., Diliman, Quezon City

Press Release
June 8, 2010

Farmers and agricultural extension workers can soon access information from cell phones, the Internet or compact discs on how to optimize the use of fertilizers and other soil nutrients to boost palay production under a new project jointly implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

"Covered by a one-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), this novel project aims to provide extension workers and palay farmers information on the proper nutrient management for palay crops in only 15 minutes through the use of an information technology-based resource support tool developed by the IRRI," Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla said over the weekend.

Fondevilla and IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler signed last Friday the MOA for the project, which will tap the existing Farmers' Contact Center being managed by the Department's Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) to help farmers access the use of the IT tool, dubbed the "NMRice" (Nutrient Management for Rice).

The MOA signing was done at the IRRI headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna and was witnessed by ATI Director Asterio P. Saliot and IRRI's Principal Scientist Dr. Roland J. Buresh. Others present were IRRI Deputy Director General Dr. William G. Padolina, Marco Van Den Berg, head of IRRI Information Technology Services, Corinta Q. Guerta, head of IRRI Office of External Relations and Donor Relations and Project Coordination, Rowena L. Castillo, IRRI's Assistant Scientist and Pamela Mappala, OIC-Assistant Chief of ATI-Knowledge Products Management Division and Ms. Margaret Mary B. Liggayu of Globe Telecommunications, Inc.

Fondevilla said, "The NMRice tool would prove to be a critical tool in improving palay production in the country, as the right use of fertilizers vary among fields, seasons and even years and farmers often improperly use this indispensable farm input by putting the wrong type and amount at the wrong time.

"On top of raising production, the use of the IRRI's NMRice Tool will also help increase farmers' incomes and protect the environment," he said.

He pointed out that many farmers often do not bother to read the printed materials given to them on proper fertilizer management because they find these too complex to understand and follow.

Through the NMRice Tool, he said farmers and extension workers will only have to answer 10 to 15 simple questions either by clicking on a computer or pressing numbers on a cellular or landline phone to immediately get the best fertilizer practices that are tailor-fit for the land they are tilling.

Farmers or extension workers who send inquiries to the FCC are expected to get their needed information in 15 minutes.

ATI Director Asterio Saliot said each inquiring farmer or extension worker will get a customized guide as to the amount and timing of the fertilizer application based on a selected rice variety.

Under the MOA, Saliot said the IRRI will provide the data on improved production practices, while the DA will promote the resource tool and put in place the mechanism for delivering the information to farmers.

The DA, through the ATI, will release P1.8 million to the IRRI to carry out the project, Saliot said.

For this project, the DA and IRRI will tap the services of Globe Telecom to provide information to farmers through Interactive Voice Response via a four-digit hotline number which will be announced soon. This project will be administered by ATI under the DA's Farmers' Contact Center.

Saliot said the IRRI's NMRice Tool uses data gathered from Philippine provinces on common rice varieties, production practices and yields to develop fertilizer management guidelines.

The DA through ATI has set up the Farmers' Contact Center to allow farmers to talk extensively with the Department's agricultural technicians and experts to get guidance and information on their various concerns.

Farmers don't have to worry about high prices on call rates when contacting the Farmers' Contact Center, as the telecoms giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) has agreed to set a flat rate of just P7 per call instead of charging voice calls by the minute.

Both the NMRice and Farmers' Contact Center projects are part of the Extension component of the government's flagship program on food security dubbed FIELDS.

FIELDS, which enumerates the six areas where government support are being focused on under the President Arroyo's food security and sufficiency agenda, stands for Fertilizers, Irrigation and other rural infrastructure like farm-to-market roads (FMRs), Extension services and education for farmers, Loans, Dryers and other postharvest facilities, and Seeds and other genetic materials.

Saliot said that farmers and fisherfolk, through the Farmers' Contact Center can ask about, among others, information on current prices of commodities, schedule of irrigation water releases, marketing of farm produce, and control measures for pest and disease incidents. # # #(DA Press Office)