Use of a Crop Model for Management Decision in Rice Production: The Case of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

This study aims to identify risk-efficient management practices in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro and fill information gaps for farm decision-making. The Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer (DSSAT) was used to simulate scenarios of varying planting dates and fertilizer rates by using available data for the model calibration. Climate variability was incorporated by grouping the yield distribution to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) years. Stochastic Dominance Analysis with Respect to a Function (SDRF) identified recommended planting schedules for risk averse individuals. These were May and September for El Niño; early May, late July and January for La Niña; and June, early October, and mid- December for Neutral years. The wet season has a stable yield and consistent response to fertilizer. September and October planting dates have a low yield even with high fertilizer levels compared to December and January. Planting early during the dry season requires fewer inputs, but the outcomes are low yielding. Plantings late in January have a high potential yield due to high solar radiation during the latter stages but they require more fertilizer and irrigation inputs.