ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Drive devider Three rain-tolerant crops you can grow (and a technology to employ) this rainy season

Three rain-tolerant crops you can grow (and a technology to employ) this rainy season

Published May 26, 2022 10:00 am

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) officially announced the onset of the rainy season last May 18, 2022. 

During this time, growers are either taking extra precautions to shield their plants from heavy rains or switching to crops that can withstand wet conditions.

If you go with the latter option, here are some crops that can help your gardens or farms progress as the seasons change.

Long purple eggplant

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), locally referred to as talong (Tagalog), tarong (Ilocano), or bringhinas (Bisaya), is a year-round vegetable that may be produced in low- to mid-elevation areas. The best soil for this is sandy loam soil with a pH of 5.5-6.5.

A photo of Dumaguete Long Purple (DLP), aka long purple eggplant. (Screen grabbed from the DOST-PCAARRD’s Information Bulletin No. 86.)

One talong variety that is ideal for the rainy season is the Dumaguete Long Purple (DLP), which is known as a waterlogging-tolerant eggplant. It takes 100 days to fully mature and can generate 20 to 25 tons per hectare.

Read: Dumaguete long purple: A waterlogging-tolerant eggplant

This kind of eggplant can be used as a rootstock for high-yielding tomato cultivars (such as NSIC TM-9) as it is resistant to bacterial wilt and other diseases. It may be employed to produce tomatoes on rainy days or for off-season production.

Grafted tomato

Kamatis, or tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), is another crop that you can grow all year long. Aside from its versatility as an ingredient, it is also adaptable to various soil types, but prefers sandy loam soil with a pH of 6.0-6.8.

The NSIC TM-9 tomato is a preferred variety if you are grafting it with flood-tolerant and disease-resistant eggplant as a rootstock. Moreover, the cultivation of grafted tomato seedlings is suited to soggy soil conditions.

These are NSIC TM-9 tomatoes that are recommended for grafting. (Screen grabbed from the DOST-PCAARRD’s Information Bulletin No. 86.)

Rice

Besides vegetables, you can also grow rice to complete the meal despite the gloomy days of this season.

Some of the flood-tolerant inbred rice varieties that you can consider are Rio Grande, Ala, Sacobia, Apo, Submarino 1, and Tubigan 18, which were all produced by the UP Los Baños (except for the Rio Grande or Rc 14).

As the name implies, Submarino 1 is a suitable rice variety for flood-prone locations. Submarino 1 or NSIC Rc194 can survive submergence for up to 14 days during its seedling and vegetative stages.

When soaked in rain, this variety takes 125 days after sowing (DAS) to mature and reach a height of 93 cm.

Hydroponics system

If you are growing in low land or flood-prone zones, one technology that you can efficiently employ, particularly in this season, is hydroponics, or the production of plants in water with nutrients. 

Leafy veggies and other crops may be grown all year in a hydroponics set-up. (Screen grabbed from the DOST-PCAARRD’s Information Bulletin No. 86.)

There is a simple, non-circulating hydroponics set-up that you can easily create and use without having to spend a lot of money or electricity. Plus, this is less stressful to manage, save, or even relocate in case of floods or a downpour. 

The information is from the DOST-PCAARRD’s Information Bulletin No. 86 titled, “Crops and Technologies: Recommendations for La Niña and the Rainy Season.”

Read more about farming and gardening at agriculture.com.ph

Related Tags

agriculture crops
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.