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American Journal of  Environmental
Economics (AJEE) 

Field Performance and Economic Analysis of  Different Adlai (Coixlacryma-Jobi L.)
 Cultivars Grown Under Lowland Conditions in Cebu City, Philippines

Marciano D. Tangpos1*

Volume 1 Issue 1, Year 2022
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Article Information ABSTRACT

Received:  July 25, 2022

Accepted: August 06, 2022

Published: August 27, 2022

Adlai (Coixlacryma – jobi L.) had a higher potential alternative crop for rice and corn, but 
information about this crop is still limited. This study was conducted to; a) evaluate the ag-
ronomic component, yield, and yield characteristics; and b) determine the economic analysis 
of  different Adlai cultivars under lowland conditions of  Carcar City, Cebu. The area (360 
m2) was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Three Adlai cultivars 
were designated as treatments replicated thrice. All treatments were applied uniformly with 
inorganic fertilizer at the rate of  120-60-60 kg/ha N, P2O5, and K2O using complete fer-
tilizer (14-14-14) and urea (46-0-0). Among cultivars, Tapol and Gulian markedly headed 
and matured earlier than Ginampay. Tapol cultivar grew taller and produced longer panicles 
with extended and broader leaves. Meanwhile, Gulian had a higher number of  panicles than 
Tapol and Ginampay. In terms of  yield, Tapol cultivar produced a higher grain yield compa-
rable to Gulian and Ginampay. However, only the Tapol cultivar generated the highest gross 
margin and percent return on investment of  PHP 59, 269.79 and 3.51 which indicated as 
high adaptability of  Tapol cultivar under lowland conditions in Carcar City, Cebu.

Keywords

Adlai, Coixlacrima Jobi, 
Agronomic, Yield, Net Return

1 Cebu Technological University Barili Campus, Philippines
* Corresponding author’s e-mail: marciano.tangpos@ctu.edu.ph

INTRODUCTION
Nature and Importance of  the study 
The Philippine government still facing the dilemma 
regarding food sustainability. Production of  domestic 
foods cannot suffice the Filipino populace (Simeon, 2019). 
In turn, effort must be made to attain the issues on food 
security. Hereafter, a locally known Adlai (Coixlacryma – 
jobi L.), otherwise known as Chinese pearl barley or Job’s 
Tear (Simeon, 2019) from the Poaceae family (Gaitan 
and Gaitan, 2017) reported as a staple food for Southern 
Zamboanga del Sur in the Subanen tribe (Gloria et al., 
2015). It was chemically analyzed to have higher amount 
of  starch, vitamins, and minerals that can lower blood 
pressure, anticancer, and reduce inflammation (Gaitan 
and Gaitan, 2017.
Though it has had higher potential, information about 
this crop is still limited (Gaitan and Gaitan, 2017). 
Information on the morphology, yield and economic 
return limit only in Mindanao region. Recently, there have 
been known cultivars that the isolated part of  Mindanao 
has used as their staple food (Gaitan and Gaitan, 2017) 
including tapol, gulian and ginampay. Characteristically, 
tapol is dull and darker in color, yielding more than 4.50 
tons per hectare. 
Ginampay has white grain color and has a yield of  
more than 4.78 tons per hectare, while Gulian has light, 
darker grains and yields 4.80 mt/ha (Dela Cruz, 2011), 
respectively. However, yield varies when planted in 
different topography. Gloria et al. (2015) found out that 
yield of  this cultivar was minimally obtained at about 
3.5 tons per hectare in other regions. Meanwhile, to give 
detailed on this cultivars, a varietal trial was conducted 
to document its morphology, yield components and 
economic returns.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Experimental Area, Design and Field Layout 
The experiment was conducted at Brgy. Pob. III, Carcar 
City, Cebu, approximately 2 kilometers away from the 
town proper of  Carcar. Geographically, the area was 
situated at 10.115111 latitudes and 123.639954 longitudes 
and characterized as a flat gradient and dominated by 
grasses and vegetations therein. 
The area (255 m2) was arranged in a randomized 
complete block design (RCBD) with three treatments 
replicated thrice. Different cultivars were designated as 
treatments (T1 (Ginampay), T2 (Gulian), and T3 (Tapol)). 
To facilitate data gathering, replications per treatment 
plot were separated by 1.5 m and 1 m alleyways. Each 
plot measured 4 m x 5 m with six rows per plot and ten 
hills per linear row. 

Crop establishment 
Adlai seeds were planted in the furrows with a distance 
of  90 cm between rows and 60 cm between hills at 2 
seeds per hill. One (1) week after germination, thinning 
at one plant per hill was done while thinned plants were 
transferred to missing hills to complete the desired plants 
per plot. Fertilization was done using commercial fertilizer 
as Complete (14-14-14, N-P2O5-K2O) and Urea (46-0-0, 
N-P2O5-K2O). 
Half  of  the recommended rate (120-60-60) (NP2O5K2O) 
using complete fertilizer was applied two weeks after 
emergence, while the remaining half  of  recommended 
fertilizer was applied 45 days after planting.  First manual 
weeding was employed three (3) weeks after planting, 
while second weeding was done 40 days after planting. 
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was adopted in the 
study. 

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Harvesting and Processing
Harvesting was done separately to all firmed grains and 
whitish color for Gulian and Guinampay and pale red 
for Tapol cultivar. Harvested adlai crops were threshed 
using the locally made threshing bed called “hampasan” 
or “lambos”. Grains were then sundried to 14% moisture 
content and winnowed before gathering all the necessary 
data.

Data Gathered
Gathered data was limited on the agronomic 
characteristics, yield, and yield components, and gross 
margin analysis. It includes the number of  days from 
planting to heading, number of  days from planting to 
maturity, plant height at maturity (cm), Leaf  Area Index 
(LAI), number of  productive tillers per hill at maturity, 
number of  panicle per tiller per hill, number of  spikelet 
per panicles, the weight of  1,000 grains (g), grain yield, 
dry matter yield, and net income return.

Statistical Analysis
Data was summarized, tabulated, and statistically analyzed 
using the Analysis of  Variance (ANOVA). Differences 

between treatment means were further investigated using 
the Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) Test at a 5 % 
alpha level.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Agronomic Characteristics
Statistically, Adlai cultivars differed significantly regarding 
heading time, maturity, plant height, and Leaf  Area Index 
(LAI). Among the three cultivars, Tapol is significantly 
headed (88 DAS) and matured earlier (141.67), increased 
plant height (255 cm), and has longer and broader leaves 
(1.57). However, Guinampay and Gulian are significantly 
comparable regarding heading, maturity time, and heights. 
In other regions, agronomic characteristics differed from 
the result of  the study. In Luzon areas particularly in 
Cordillera valley, ginampay, gulian, and tapol matured 
at 158- 160 DAP while grows up to 215 to 225 cm tall 
(Bulong et al., 2015). In Mindanao regions particularly in 
Tangub City, gulian and ginampay matured at 162 DAP 
and grew up to 256 cm tall.
The study showed that different cultivars of  Adlai 
showed different agronomic characteristics when planted 
in different areas. 

Table 1: Agronomic characteristics of  different Adlai (Coixlacryma-jobi L.) cultivars grown in lowland condition in 
Carcar City, Cebu, Philippines 
Treatments No. of  days from planting Plant Height LAI

To Heading To Maturity
T1- Ginampay 90.67 a 146.67 a 198.67 b 1.30b
T2- Gulian 90.00a 143.37 ab 214.67 b 1.13 c
T3- Tapol 88.00b 141.67 b 255.00a 1.57 a
(Pr value) 0.0178 0.0302 0.0068 0.002
C. V. (%)      0.7444     0.9821       4.7800 4.330
Means with the same letters are not significantly different at 5 % level using HSD Test

A variation in its agronomic characteristics were mainly 
due to the variability of  biotic and abiotic factors (Gould 
& Higgs, 2009; Jobbágy & Jackson, 2004). Also, crop 
performance may directly influence on the presence of  
crop stresses. According to Alizadeh et al. (2014), limited 
or absence of  rain or soil water deficiency is the primary 
stress factor that can affect the growth and development 
of  plants. In addition, Prasad et al. (2006) stated that 
limited soil moisture, stresses plants which hinder its 
development. Meanwhile, the result of  this study implied 
that under Carcar City, Cebu, the Tapol cultivar outstands 
the other cultivars. It matures earlier, stands taller and 
with broader and longer leaves, respectively.  

Yield and Yield Components
Results showed that the Tapol cultivar significantly 
produced more number of  tillers (10.33), panicles 
(52.67), a higher number of  spikelets (347.67), heavier 
1000 weight grains (86.33 g), higher grain yield (1.52 t/
ha), and heavier dried matter yield (657 kg/ha). This 
significant result is attributed to its genetic, environment, 
and interaction effects (DiLalla et al., 2009). The yield 

components of  these cultivars also vary from region 
to region. In the Mindanao regions, the Tapol cultivar 
also had a higher grain yield (3.07 tons/ha), while other 
cultivars yield varies from 1.67 to 1.85 tons/ha (Gloria 
et al., 2015). However, in the Luzon regions, the tapol 
cultivar showed the lowest yield at 0.59 tons/ha, while 
ginampay and gulian had higher yields of  o.64 to 0.78 
tons/ha, respectively. 
This shows a wide variation of  its yield performance 
when grown in different regions. Such yield variation 
may be because of  its existing biotic and abiotic factors 
(Clavijo, 2016), which also differ from region to region 
(Christensen et al., 2013; Doblas-Reyes et al., 2013; 
Parmesan and Hanley, 2015; Anderson and Song, 2020).
However, the result implied that Tapol performed 
best than the other two Adlai cultivars under lowland 
conditions in Carcar City, Cebu. 
The performance of  this cultivar shows higher tiller 
productivity and panicles per hill, more spikelets, and 
heavier grain weight per hectare. But, this field information 
need further investigation under several conditions in the 
location mentioned above.

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Economic Analysis 
Table 3 shows the gross margin analysis of  different 
Adlai cultivars grown under lowland conditions in Carcar 
City, Cebu. Computation of  income and cost was based 
on the actual yield times the current buying price and 
the cost incurred throughout each cultivars production. 
Tapol cultivar gave the highest gross margin income 
of  PhP 59,269.79 per hectare, followed by Gulian and 

Ginampay with a positive gross margin of  PHP 4,878.79 
and PHP 5,128.29. Further, the tapol cultivar also had 
the highest return on investment (3.51), which means 
that investment in the tapol cultivar could gain threefold 
more of  its cost of  production. Therefore, under Carcar 
City conditions, planting of  Adlai (tapol) cultivar could 
have positive higher economic returns as evident to have 
increased gross income and return on investment

Table 2: Yield and Yield components of  different Adlai (Coixlacryma-jobi L.) varieties grown in lowland condition 
in Carcar City, Cebu, Philippines 
Treatment Productive 

Tillers
No.of  Panicles No.of  Spikelets 1000 grains(g) Grain Yield(t/ha)

T1Ginampay 8.00b 35.67c 256.00c 76.67b 0.1455 b
T2- Gulian 6.00c 53.00a 259.33b 73.67c 0.1472 b
T3- Tapol 10.33 a 52.67ab 347.67a 86.33a 1.5265a
(Pr value) 0.009 0.045 0.032 0.021 0. 042
C. V. (%) 10.87 40.13 42.60 15.73 17.14
Means followed by the same letters are not significantly different at 5 % alpha level using HSD test

Table 3: Gross margin analysis of  different Adlai (Coixlacryma-jobi L.) varieties grown under lowland condition in 
Carcar City, Cebu
Treatment Grain Yield Gross Income Total Variable 

Cost
Gross Margin Return on 

Investment (%)
(tha-1) (PhPha-1) (PhPha-1)

T1-Ginampay 0.4365 21,781.35 16,902.56   4,878.79   0.29
T2-Gulian 0.4415 22,030.85 16,902.56   5,128.29   0.30
T3-Tapol 1.5265 76,172.35 16,902.56 59,269.79   3.51
*Calculation of  gross income is based on the current price of  Adlai at PhP 499/kg

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Based on the results, the Tapol cultivar outstand agronomic 
characteristics, higher yield and yield components, and 
higher return on investment. Meanwhile, tapol cultivar 
was highly recommended under Carcar City conditions. 
Further study is recommended focusing on the 
performance of  this cultivars relating to food and feed 
production, formulation, and its socio-economic analysis 
in national and international level.

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