Posted on Tuesday, September 3, 2002

SPECIAL REPORT

Higher yielding hybrid rice sows  
the seeds of opportunity in RP

By Maria Leah J. Baroña

(First of 3 parts  )

In a 10-hectare rice field in Quezon pro­vince, Mang Gringo and his wife Belen cool down inside their house in the middle of the expanse. He is a rice seed grower in a sleepy barangay outside Lucena City, one of many in their area who have tried the much hyped hybrid rice. A sack of the seeds lies in a corner of the storage room waiting for the next dry season. Mang Gringo is setting the hybrid aside until after the rains, since an attack of leaf blight during the previous wet season left him quite dry.

A hundred kilometers away, experts debate on whether or not to let the local farmers start on the hybrid program at all. The government has made it the flagship program of the Arroyo administration, and an ad on national television says it may even make self-sufficiency possible by 2004. However, some experts cry caution.

Improvement of the breed

Hybrid rice is produced by cross-pollinating two genetically different rice plants with superior qualities. Rice is generally self-pollinating, so one of the parents must have a sterile male part to make a cross. The offspring, or seed, inherits the superior qualities of the parents. This gives rise to strong and healthy seedlings with longer roots and wider leaves, enabling them to use more radiation, absorb more nutrients and produce more grains. This increase in growth, size and yield over those of the parents is called heterosis or hybrid vigor.

However, heterosis — or high yield — is exhibited only in the first filial (called F1) generation of hybrid seeds. This means that a farmer cannot replant the seeds from a hybrid crop. To maintain high yield, he must buy new seeds every cropping season.

The hybrid rice technology was deve­loped in China and was first used there in 1976. The ensuing large-scale production enabled the country to feed its 1.3 billion people. Since then, many countries have been encouraged to follow suit.

According to the International Rice Research Ins­titute (IRRI), there are now 17 countries in various stages of hybrid rice development: Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, DPR of Korea, The Republic of Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam.

Hybrid rice was recommended for use in the Phi­lippines after the national cooperative test found it gave yields at least 15 percent higher than the best inbred varieties.

Until recently, the only recommended hybrid variety for nationwide planting is the Mestizo or PSB Rc72, developed at IRRI. However, its susceptibi­lity to bacterial leaf blight during the wet season has increased the pressure for the program to come up with other varieties for farmers to choose from.

Two more varieties from private seed companies are now available, Bigante from Aventis and Magilas 500 from Monsanto. In May 2002, the rice technical working group and the national seed industry council recommended another two hybrids for commercialization. The two yet unnamed varieties are resistant to bacterial leaf blight and are expected to thrive when and where the Mestizo cannot.

Why hybrid rice?

To feed more than 80 million people, the country has had to import about 625,000 tons of rice each year since 1983. The population continues to grow, but arable land area is shrinking.

“A lot of rice land is being converted to non-rice uses,” says Dr. Sant Virmani, deputy head of the Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biochemistry Division of IRRI. “If production has to be increased … the only way we can do something to meet this challenge is by increasing the yield per unit area.”

The economic charm of the hybrid rice techno­logy is its yield potential, thus, the possibility of bringing the country to rice self-sufficiency in a few years.

According to Dr. Frisco Malabanan of the GMA Rice Program, the partial report of 15 regions for the November 2001-April 2002 cropping season showed an average yield advantage of 30 percent. If this kind of figure persists nationwide, then the need for imports would greatly decrease, benefiting farmers and seed growers.

Commercial prospects

Moreover, as Dr. William Padolina, deputy director general for partnerships in IRRI and member of the board of trustees of PhilRice notes, “Hybrids always offer great commercial possibilities. You have to return to the seed source to plant your new crop for the hybrid. So that is where the commercial aspects come in.”

Dr. Padolina believes that the hybrid rice technology is “a good opportunity to encourage the private sector to participate in rice production.”

He observes that until now, the participation of the private sector in rice production has been very minimal. Since the technology is labor-intensive, requiring additional labor for seed production and transplanting, it will inevitably start a seed industry, generating more employment in the rural areas.

Dr. Virmani adds that aside from its yield benefits, the hybrid rice technology can also help farmers to become seed-conscious. “Seed is, in any agricultural production system, the basic factor … [if farmers become seed-conscious], any new technology which is seed-oriented they would be accepting much faster.”

Gov’t thrust

Owing to her promise to create more jobs in the agriculture sector, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has declared the Hybrid Rice Commercialization Program (HRCP) as the flagship program of the One Million Jobs Office, headed by presidential adviser Luis ‘Cito’ P. Lorenzo Jr. PhilRice has been designated as lead implementing agency of the program and is now under the Office of the President since March of this year.

The objectives of the HRCP are to attain rice self-sufficiency and food security for the country, increase job opportunities, and reduce poverty in the rural areas through the use of the hybrid rice technology.

The projected rice production (inbreds and hybrids included) for 2004 is about 14 million metric tons, which is the self-sufficiency level according to Dr. John de Leon, who recently replaced Dr. Manuel Gaspar as hybrid rice program leader at PhilRice.

The program aims to have 135,000 hectares planted to hybrid rice in 2002; 200,000 hectares in 2003; and 300,000 hectares in 2004. These would be in favorably irrigated areas or where water supply is assured for the cropping season.

Since Mestizo is susceptible to bacterial leaf blight during the rainy months, the target areas for the wet season are only 25-37 percent of the total target area for that year. A hybrid for rainfed areas is still in the process of development.

Jobs

Further, the program plans to create about 75,000 jobs in 2002 and 121,000 jobs by 2004.

The target areas for commercialization of hybrid rice cover 57 provinces all over the country: Luzon — Kalinga, Apayao, Abra, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, La Union, Ifugao, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Tarlac, Pampanga, Aurora, Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Zambales, Bulacan, Laguna, Batangas, Palawan, Albay, Camarines Sur, Mindoro Occidental, and Mindoro Oriental; Visayas — Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Biliran, Bohol, Leyte, and Southern Leyte; and Mindanao — Zamboanga Sur, Zamboanga Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga City, Davao Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao Sur, Compostela Valley, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, Lanao Sur, Bukidnon, Lanao Norte, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Agusan Norte, Agusan Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Sarangani, and General Santos.

Aside from PhilRice, the other implementing agencies for the program are bureaus of the Department of Agriculture and attached agencies such as the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE), Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), National Irrigation Authority (NIA), Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA); DA regional field units or RFUs, the National Food Authority (NFA), local government units, and credit lending institutions like the Land Bank of the Philippines and Quedancor.

The private sector (seed companies, seed cooperatives, and individual seed growers) is responsible for producing the hybrid rice seeds. The role of the government is to maintain and increase the parental lines of the public hybrid.

The government draws farmers to participate by inviting them to technology demonstration trials or techno-demo to see how the hybrid is performing in actual field conditions.

Last year, techno-demo farms covered 5,000 hectares nationwide, says PhilRice-Los Baños officer-in-charge Diego Ramos. Once a farmer indicates his interest, he is given a half-day technical briefing plus the package accompanying the technology.

Incentives

Hybrid seeds cost P2,400 for a 20-kilo bag, which is sufficient to plant a hectare of rice field. As an incentive during the promotional stage of the HRCP, the government subsidizes half the cost so farmers can get the seeds for P1,200 a bag.

The subsidy shall be phased out by 2004, after which PhilRice hopes that the farmers would have tested the hybrid enough to be convinced to use it even without the subsidy.

The program also features a credit component. Farmers group themselves into clusters of three to 15 members and avail through Quedancor a loan of P10,000 per hectare to purchase production inputs.

Dr. Malabanan clarifies that it is not the objective of the HRCP to replace the inbred or certified seeds with hybrid rice seed, but to complement them.

“A certain hectarage will be planted to hybrids, primarily those areas that are favorable — with good irrigation facilities and farmers who are receptive to new technologies,” he says.

Officials hope that by 2004, the technology would have already gained ground with farmers, in terms of farm produce and maybe even in seed production.

The plan is a reduced subsidy for the seeds by 2003 and zero subsidy after 2004. Dr. De Leon says by 2005, farmers should have already seen the benefits of hybrid rice and will voluntarily use it.

Dr. Malabanan further says that by this time, they expect to have enough seed growers around to produce the hybrid seeds.

(The author works for the Office of Public and Alumni Affairs, UP Los Baños).