(Story of Judy Guardacasa)

Flooding has been a problem for Judy for 10 years now, ever since she took over rice farming from her husband, who left for construction work in Manila. However, the uncertainties, damages and repeated yield loss she has experienced has not reduced Judy’s desire to cultivate rice.

On Dec 2012, Judy’s hope was renewed when the DIPECHO Project came to Irosin and introduced Disaster Risk Reductioin (DRR) in agriculture among the farming households in the barangays of Gabao, Gulang-gulang and Bulawan. Judy’s use of a good practice option early-maturing rice variety (PSB Rc-10) provided her with an additional 10 cavans or 0.46 tons/ha, compared to her existing long-maturing rice variety (NSIC Rc-222), which was affected by the flooding of Gabao river.
The trainings and workshops conducted by the project on community-based disaster risk reduction and hazard, vulnerability & community assessment (HVCA) enabled Judy to understand how different hazards interact, the resulting risks, and their corresponding impacts on farming.

When asked about her observations, Judy shared that even if she planted late, she can still harvest early and avoid flooding, which usually starts on October.  She also revealed that she can still get better prices even if the yield is low. Buying price of palay in the locality is P17-18/per kilo of fresh palay. The early harvest also provides her with enough rice stocks that she can use during calamities. For the next cropping, Judy plans to start planting on January to further reduce risks from damages brought about by intense rains and floods.  She also promised to tell other farmers in her community about DRR in agriculture.

Table 1: Comparative Cost and Return (1 ha) of Judy’s existing and GPO variety. 2013