DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of the Secretary
Elliptical Rd., Diliman, Quezon City

Press Release
July 14, 2010

High-yielding varieties key to rice self-sufficient Philippines

With limited or dwindling rice areas, Philippines can still be rice self-sufficient and limit rice importation if most farmers will just shift to high-yielding varieties. By being self-sufficient, the country will not be dependent on other countries for the supply of its staple food. It can even afford to export fancy and organic rice thus giving more profit to Filipino farmers.

As of now, the country is not yet self-sufficient so it imports rice from neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam . Thailand and Vietnam are blessed with great river networks that’s why they have bigger total irrigated rice area as compared to the Philippines so they can afford to export some of their produce.

To attain self-sufficiency in three years time, we need to use proven farming technologies that not only increase yield but raise farmer’s income as well,” said Dr. Frisco Malabanan, rice program director of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“In terms of average yield, Vietnam has overtaken us but we are relatively better than those of Thailand because of the use of high quality genetic materials and other productivity-enhancing technologies,” he said. “High yield starts with sowing quality seeds, whether hybrid or inbred rice.”

Farmers back then were not quality conscious. They have always relied on their own seeds and sometimes those from other farmers, relatives, etc. Likewise, they used as much as 150 kilograms per hectare (kg/ha).

Today, more farmers are now shifting to modern rice varieties, which are easily available through local seed growers. The DA’s rice program is continuously educating farmers to shift to either hybrid or inbred rice certified seeds (CS). A farmer needs 15-20 kg/ha and 40 kg/ha of hybrid rice seeds and CS, respectively. He should also buy new seeds every planting season to ensure high yields.

Prices of both hybrid and CS are being subsidized by DA to encourage more farmers to use them. After many years of promoting CS, it is now planted in a much bigger area than hybrids because most farmers have already accepted its positive impact of producing more yield than FHSS. In the past, few farmers plant CS because it has to be purchased every season and it is regarded as an expensive input with uncertain quality. Before the start of the DA’s rice program in 2001, CS was planted to only 350,000 ha. In cropping year 2009, it was already planted to 2.73 million ha.

With this, hybrid rice may be thought of as a new and low adoption technology among farmers since it is season- and location-specific technology that needed further information campaigns. Back in its early years, there were limited numbers of hybrid rice varieties that farmers could choose from.

But nowadays, more private companies in addition to the public sector engage in hybrid rice research and development (R&D), and seed business so there are many varieties available in the market that is suitable to every farmer’s needs.

Just like CS, hybrid rice will soon be acceptable to most farmers considering that they can harvest 6-12 metric tons per hectare (mt/ha). It has a yield advantage of 15%-30% over the best CS.

In Nueva Ecija, farmers are again overwhelmed with the benefits that they are reaping from their hybrid rice farms. More than 55,000 ha of rice fields were planted to hybrid rice in 2010 dry cropping season. Farmers have harvested an average yield of 7.73 mt/ha. An average yield of only 5.70 mt/ha was harvested from more than 93,000 ha planted to inbred rice CS.

Hybrid rice technology is seen as the most viable option in raising farmers’ yields without necessarily increasing rice lands. Over the past three decades, the technology has helped China achieve food security, but has not yet reached its potential in the tropics. Hybrid rice technology can raise the yield of rice and thus overall rice productivity and profitability in Asia .

When planted, the hybrid rice commercial cultivation procedure is basically the same as inbred rice varieties. Although it requires greater attention in seed and seedling management, hybrid rice is grown much like inbred varieties.

In the succeeding seasons, seed subsidies can be reduced or be phased-out totally. But the rice industry still needs more extension activities like cluster demonstration, farmers’ training, and accessible credit to sustain and expand the hybrid rice and certified seeds commercial cultivation.

To sustain the increase in local rice production, the DA must continue its irrigation and infrastructure projects, and provision of postharvest facilities, and composting facilities so that farmers especially the marginalized farmers will be encouraged to plant more.

Given enough budget and support of all the players in the industry, the DA’s target of self-sufficiency in 2013 is possible. The DA will continue to work with the farmers, the local government executives, and other industry stakeholders because they play vital roles in making things happen to achieve production targets. ### (DA-Rice Program)