1
STATUS OF AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN NUEVA ECIJA
AENGR 432 - Advances in Agricultural Mechanization
INTRODUCTION
2
Physical Profile of Nueva Ecija
Brief History
The province of Nueva Ecija was created in 1705 by the Spanish Governor
General Don Fausto Cruzar Y Gongora. Looking then at the undulating ripples of the
Pampanga River, Spanish Governor Cruzar was struck by the nostalgic longing of his
homeland “Ecija” - it’s an old town on the left bank of the gentle river Genil in the
province of Seville, Southern Spain. Being a native Ecijan, he called his new found land
“Nueva Ecija” – his “New Ecija”.
When the Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896, Nueva Ecija was one of the
first eight provinces that revolted against the Spanish government. Because of its
strategic location, it became the center of military operations during the infamous
Filipino-American War. General Emilio Aguinaldo’s refuge in the province made it a
rebel territory until his eventual surrender in 1901.
During the pacification of the province, a new government under the American
was formed in 1898 headed by Felino Cajucom as governor. After cessation of hostilities,
a civil government was established in 1901. In 1912, the provincial capital was returned
to Cabanatuan, where it has remained until a recent decree created the city of Palayan and
thereafter, named it the capital of Nueva Ecija.
Land Classification
3
Nueva Ecija has a total land area of 550,718 hectares. The Land Classification
status (Legal Status) of Nueva Ecija shows that about 64% or about 353,270 hectares are
classified as alienable and disposable lands (A & D) and about 36% or 197,448 hectares
are classified as forestlands.
Table 1 shows the land classification of Nueva Ecija in 2003.
Table 1. Land classification of Nueva Ecija in 2003.
LAND CLASSIFICATION
Virgin forest
Residual forest
Mossy and open grass land
National parks, reservation and plantations
Agricultural lands
Residential, commercial and industrial
Total
AREA (Ha)
6, 476
33, 133
74, 050
83, 789
300, 000
53, 270
550, 718
As shown in table 1, about 300,000 ha is devoted for agricultural production,
53,270 ha for residential, commercial, and industrial, and 83,789 ha for the development
of parks and plantations. Furthermore, there is 6,476 ha classified as virgin forest, 33,133
ha as residual forest, and 74,050 ha as mossy and open grass land.
General Climate Type
4
Nueva Ecija falls under three types of climate under the Corona’s Classification,
namely Type I with two pronounced season, Type III with season not very pronounced
and Type IV with rainfall evenly distributed through the year.
Rainfall
The mean and annual rainfall ranges from 1,700 - 2,200 mm from the central
plain to the mountainous northern and eastern part of the province, respectively, or an
average mean annual rainfall of 1,950 mm per year.
Temperature
The average maximum temperature of the province is about 31.8 degrees Celsius.
It ranges from 29.6 to 34.1 degrees Celsius and occurs during the months of April to July.
Mean minimum temperature is about 22.0 degrees Celsius. Occurring during months the
cool months of November to March, it ranges from 20.3 to 23.8 degrees Celsius.
Population
The latest census (2000) of the population of the province places the present
population of 1,659,883 or an increase of 154,056 from the 1995 records, which is
estimated at 1,505,827. This gives an annual growth rate of 2.11% which is
comparatively far below the regional and national growth rate of 3.20% and 2.36%
5
respectively. Using the annual growth rate, the estimated population in 2008 and 2033 are
1,961,660 and 3,306,212, respectively.
Population Density
Although population density of the province reveals enough space for its people,
its density of 302 people per square kilometer is higher than national population density
of 255 per sq. kilometer unevenness in population distribution exists both in the province
and in the cities. Cabanatuan city with 1,161 persons per sq. km. has the highest
population density in the province.
In sex distribution, male population accounts for 50.83% of the total population
while female population accounts for 49.17%. Male-female ratio was placed at 103 males
per 100 female populations.
Labor Force and Employment
Based on statistics, a total of 617,000 persons were employed. Out of this,
426,000 are employed representing the male and 191,000 were female employed. Those
employed are mostly engaged in agricultural activities about 287,000 which imply that
Nueva Ecija is basically agricultural in nature. While engaged in service and industry are
81,000 and 249,000 respectively. The household populations aged 15 years old and over
are included in the working age population.
6
AGRICULTURAL PROFILE
7
Agriculture has remained the prime industry of the province. Agricultural lands
devoted to various agricultural activities cover about 300,000 ha out of the total
provincial area of 550,718 Ha.
Rice/Palay
Rice is still the prime target of agricultural development and programs. A large
network of irrigation facilities and other appurtenant structure boosted the Palay
production in the province.
Rice production was greatly affected by the series of calamities that hit the
province during dry and wet season. The average yield per hectare during the dry season
and wet season planting was 4.33 and 3.09 MT respectively or an average yield of 3.71
MT/ha for the whole year.
Targeted area for both dry and wet season was not achieved due to insufficient
irrigation water brought about by El Nino. Reduction in yield (1997- production was
1,106,968 MT/ha) was mainly attributed to El Nino and La Nina phenomenon.
Production performance for 1999 declined as compared to previous years.
Contributory to the downtrend was due to excessive rain, which resulted to spoiled rice
grains and low production per hectare during the rainy season. Average yield per hectare
in 1999 was 4.23 MT for the whole year.
8
For the year 2000, rice production was affected by rampant damage of rats,
excessive water brought by typhoon Reming and Senyang, and grain spoilage due to
continuous rain during the wet season cropping.
Of the 300,000 hectares planted for the wet and dry season, the total area
harvested was 290,421 hectares with total production of 1,213,960 metric tons or an
average of 4.18 MT/Ha.
Hybrid Rice
The team from provincial agriculture started programs like techno promo which
encourage the farmers of the province to learn more about the hybrid rice. They featured
the advantages of hybrid rice, seedbed preparation and management, soil analysis and
fertilizer management.
Based on the data on hybrid rice provided by the Office of the Provincial
Agriculturist the average production per hectare is comparatively higher than the inbred
rice. Growing hybrid rice has improved the province’s grain production output. In 2001,
the province harvested a total area of 262,000 ha with production of 1,575,000 metric
tons. This resulted to an average production of 6.01 MT per hectare. Area devoted for
hybrid rice is yearly augmented, thus affecting the production.
The provincial production of hybrid rice is expected to further improve for the
coming cropping season.
Food Production Using Traditional Method and Best Available Technology
In 2003, the province has a total area for rice production of 300,000 ha. However,
in 2008, the area for rice production decreased to 192,491.62 ha. This gives an annual
9
decrease rate of -8.492% (land conversion from agricultural land to residential,
commercial and industrial land).
After 25 years (2033), the estimated population and total land area for rice
production are 3,306,212 and 20,935.74 ha respectively.
Applying the traditional
method, the average yield was assumed to 5 MT/ha for the whole year. This will result to
insufficient supply of rice to the increasing population of the province. The total
production of rice in 2033 will be 104,678,700 kg/yr, which is not enough to give the
food consumption of Novo Ecijano that is 383,851,117.2 kg/yr.
Using the best technology, the average yield was assumed to 10MT/ha for the
whole year. This yield can give a total production of 209,357,400 kg, which is also not
enough to give the food consumption of the Novo Ecijano.
Status of Agricultural Mechanization in Nueva Ecija
Generally, the level of mechanization in the province can now be considered as
high compared to other provinces in the Philippines. The presence of different institution
like Bureau of Post-Harvest Research and Extension (BPRE), Philppine-Sino Center for
Agricultural Technology (PhilSCAT), and Philippine Rice Institute (PhilRice) help
increase its mechanization. Different technologies from other countries are now present
in the province (i.e. Rice combine harvester, Transplanter, Drum Seeder, Four-wheel
Tractor, Mechanical and Flat bed dryers, etc.).
10
A PLAN TO PRESERVE THE STATUS QUO I.E, TO KEEP APPROXIMATELY
THE SAME PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WORKING IN AGRICULTURE AND
PRESERVE THE SAME OVER ALL STANDARD OF LIVING FOR THE NEXT
25 YEARS.
In 2008, the province has a total number of farmers of 112,038 persons. In 2033,
using 1 percent population growth rate in agriculture, there will be 143, 681 persons
working in agriculture which means that there are 0.108 ha per labor force. Considering
the same overall standard in living in 2033, at least self-sufficiency in food was attained
with some export products, as in 2008, self-sufficiency in food was attained and some
agricultural products were exported to other countries.
Since, there are many supports from the government; the objective for the
development in agriculture could be attained in the next years to come.
The estimated area is 119,959.98 ha and 31,421.33 ha for irrigated and rainfed,
respectively. The projected rice production for irrigated area is 1,799,399.7 tons (twice
cropping per year) and 235, 659.98 tons for rainfed (one cropping a year).
For 120 days maturity of rice, there are only two months available for working the
field operations before and after crop growth (i.e. land preparation, seed nursery,
planting, harvesting and other post harvest operation). The water requirement for
extended land preparation is about 40% the water required to produce rice (wickham,
1978).
11
Table 2. Field operations and man-day requirements.
FIELD OPERATION
MAN-DAY REQUIREMENT POWER SOURCE
Land preparation
20
man and carabao
Seed care and planting
40
human
Crop care and management
8
human
Harvesting and threshing
40
human
Land Preparation
Riceland preparation maybe wet or dry type. Most Filipino farmer however,
prepared their land following the wet type for irrigated and of course dry type or rainfed
areas. As has been practice, for better land preparation and weed control, a week interval
between plowing and harrowing, and another 1 week interval between first and second
harrowing are being allotted. Thus, for a 4 week interval, if man and animal are the
sources of power for this operation, it requires 1.16 heads per unit hectare to prepare it on
time, in irrigated area and two heads per hectare rainfed areas.
Since there are only 52, 600 heads of carabao in 2008 which could be used for draft
work, the area that will be prepared on time will be 45, 344.83 ha. Or irrigated land
(52600/1.16)
Seed care and Planting
Most of the farmers prefer transplanting rice than direct seeding. The man- day
requirement per hectare of land for this operation is 40. But since irrigation delivery is
staggered it also follows that planting in all the areas will be staggered such that a 25 day
interval could be allowed. With 143,681 male and female economically active population
12
in agriculture, the available man-days will be 3,592,025 man-days (143, 681 x 25) and
the requirement only for the 20,935.74 hectare is 837,429.6 man-day (20,935.74 x 40).
Therefore, there is a sufficient labor force to do the planting operation for rice.
Crop care and Management
Crop care and management involves the application of fertilizer, irrigation,
spraying, weeding, and cleaning the dikes or grass cutting and other field operations
within the growing period of crop. The man-day requirement per ha of land for this
operation is 8 with human as means of power source. This operation can be done by the
farmer and his family themselves, since it is not a labor intensive operation; except in
some cases which needs t hire a laborer for example in weeding manually. There are
studies conducted for the right fertilizer application and in order to saved and control the
right amount of fertilizer to be applied. IRRI had been saying that about half of the
required fertilizer could be saved if it is applied by the applicator near the root system of
the crops. Though, this is a very significant finding, the study about this technology is
still going on and needs to be viable brought to the farmers level for use.
Harvesting and Threshing
Just like planting, harvesting will have a time interval of 25 days so that there will
be enough labor for the harvesting operations. There is more number of persons needed
in harvesting operation than in threshing.
13
Threshing and harvesting must be done simultaneously. Threshing must be done
on the same day of harvesting or a day after to minimize losses. It is therefore necessary
to have a sufficient threshing machine to cope up with these limitations.
Expected total production per cropping = 1,135,359. 825 tons
No. of days to thresh = 25 days
Required capacity per day = 45,414.393 tons per day.
Using portable rice threshers that could be powered by the 7 hp power tiller, the
required number of unit will be
No. of units of thresher = (45, 414. 393 tons/day ) / (7.7 tons/day)
= 5,898 units
14
A PLAN TO PROVIDE THE INCREASED PRODUCTION REQUIRED WITH A
SMALLER PERFORMANCE FOR PEOPLE WORKING IN AGRICULTURE,
THUS FREEING PEOPLE TO WORK IN OTHER SECTORS OF ENEMY.
At present, we can say that the country is going towards industrialization. Thus,
employment of labor force increases in the industrial and service sectors. On the other
hand, agricultural labor force decreases every year. This may give lesser hectare per
worker. Thus, a greater productivity is necessary to meet the food demand of the people
in 2033. The existence of new technology in the field of agricultural machinery can help
to meet the needs of the people with the help of the government.
Since in this plan, the labor force will be decreased while the other needs will be
the same (Food demand, area to be cultivated). The displaced labor will be replaced by
mechanically operated machinery in order to meet the same requirements. Though, in this
plan there will be better employment, more job opportunities which could possibly
increase the income of the people, thus, a better standard of living. It is also possible that
the rate of population growth will decrease since; the people with good employments will
be very busy resulting to reduced fertility.
Energy Inputs
Population of farmers = 112,038
Labor Force in 2008 = 1.72 ha/worker
Decrease rate = 0.72%
Labor Force in 2033 = 1.44 ha/worker
Computation:
15
Plow
Area= 192,491.62 ha
Capacity= A/T = 192,491.62/10 days = 19,249.162 ha/day
Speed= 5km/hr;
Efficiency= 80%
W= (192,491.162 X 10)/ (5X 0.8) = 48,122.905m
Wc= 0.5m
No. of units of power tiller
48,122.905m/ 0.5= 96245.81 or 96,246 units
1st harrow
Area= 192,491.62 ha
Capacity= A/T = 192,491.62/10 days = 19,249.162 ha/day
Speed= 8 km/hr; EFFCIENCY= 80%
W= (19,249.162 X 10)/ (8 X 0.8) = 30,007m
Using Power Tiller;
Wc= 1m
No. of units= 30,007
Using 4-W tractor;
Wc= 3.5
No. of units= 30.007m/ 3.5m= 8,594 units
16
2nd harrow
Area= 192,491.62 ha
Capacity= A/T = 192,491.62/5 days = 38,498.321 ha/day
Speed= 8km/hr;
Efficiency= 80%
W= (38498.321 X 10)/ (8 X 0.8) = 60,153.63m
Using power tiller;
Wc= 1m
No. of units= 60,153.63 units
Using 4-W tractor
Wc= 3.5
No. of units= 60153.63/ 3.5= 17,187 units
Planting
Estimated population of farmers= 143,682
Assumed that 8% of the population will be operators of transplanter= 11,495
Availabale farmer for planting= 132,187.44
Seed care and planting/ ha= 10 man/day
No. of days for planting= 10 days
Area to be accomplished by the farmers= 132,188 man/ (10 man/day-ha)(10 days)
=1,321.88 ha
17
Area to be accomplished by transplanter= 192,491.62ha- 1321.88
= 191,169.74ha
Capacity of transplanter= 0.207ha/hr
No. of days for operation= 10 days
No. of units= 191,169.74ha/ (0.207ha/hr X 80hr)= 11,545 units
Harvesting
Harvesting (cutting and hauling) = 10 man/day-ha
No. of days for preparation= 10 days
Assume 35% of farmer’s population will be thresher/rice combine
= 50,289
Available farmer= 53,394
Area to be accomplished by the farmers= 93,394ha
Capacity of tractor= 1.5ha/day
No. of tractor= 93,394ha/ (1.5ha/day) (10 days)= 6,227 units
Area available for rice combine harvester= 99,097.62/ (2ha/day) (10)
= 4,955
http://www.census.gov.ph/data/quickstat/region3/qs03040902.pdf
http://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/pjd/pidsjpd85-1agripod.pdf