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By Maria Leah J. Baroña
(In the conclusion of this series, the author
notes the warnings against thinking that hybrid rice alone can
bridge the difference between self-sufficiency and continuing
importation.)
ONE of the findings presented during the 3rd
International Symposium on Hybrid Rice at Hyderabad, India in 1996
states: “Compared with conventional varieties, rice varieties
that are highly responsive to fertilizer are more prone to pest
damage… Most of the currently released rice hybrids in India are
susceptible to the major diseases and insect pests.” New hybrids
possessing multiple disease/insect resistance are being developed.
Dr. Santiago Obien, former executive director of
PhilRice, says hybrid rice has the genetic potential to respond more
to inputs than most inbreds. He also recognizes that most hybrids
are susceptible to some disease.
Aside from having higher yields, a new variety
should at least match the quality of the inbred rice that consumers
are used to. “If you have higher yield and poor grain quality then
the farmer can get high yield but less price,” says Dr. Sant
Virmani, deputy head of the Plant Breeding, Genetics and
Biochemistry Division of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
“So why would he go for it?”
Fortunately, the hybrids released for
commercialization in the Philippines have acceptable grain quality.
Dr. William Padolina, deputy director general
for partnerships at the IRRI, believes that consumer-wise, “rice
is unique in that it has very strong consumer preferences.” People
will not buy rice if the quality does not suit their tastes, even if
it is sold cheaply.
“Hybrid rice breeders are giving extra
attention to grain quality while breeding hybrids,” says Dr.
Virmani.
PhilRice has assured consumers that cooked
hybrid rice is comparable to inbreds in terms of palatability. Mang
Gringo and Aling Belen confirm this. “Masarap. Walang problema sa
lasa. (It tastes good. We have no problems with the taste.)”
“Hybrid rice can actually give us a higher
yield compared with our current inbred, when properly managed,”
says Dr. Sebastian.
Thus, it is possible that until farmers are able
to adopt the ideal cultural management for hybrid rice, the
potential 15 to 20 percent higher yields may remain a potential.
But Dr. Padolina points out that farmers have to
be taught the proper cultural management technology for hybrid.
“This covers the full range of water, disease, and pest
management, as well as making sure that you have the proper kind of
seeds. For the management of inputs like fertilizers and pesticides,
you have to be properly advised.”
Long-term effects on the soil
Dr. Virmani says China has been commercializing
hybrid rice for the past 26 years, but he has not seen anything that
might be considered a permanent negative effect of the technology.
Dr. Padolina says, “Inherently putting the
hybrid rice there will cause very minimal, I think, if at all,
adverse effect.” Any adverse effect on the soil, once again,
depends on the management practices: applying fertilizer at the
wrong time, when you don’t need it, or in the wrong amounts.
A study, “Hybrid Rice in Asia: An Unfolding
Threat” written by Devlin Kuyek in March 2000, points out that
there is a rising objection to hybrids because of the threat they
pose to the biodiversity of rice. The pageant of high-yielding
varieties (HYVs) constantly trying to outdo the previous one has
displaced traditional varieties including their wild relatives on a
massive scale. Less than 20 years ago, already two HYVs occupied 98
percent of the total rice area of the Philippines. Similar horror
stories can be told for Thailand, Burma, China, Pakistan and
Cambodia. Hybrid rice presents a more serious threat, being an
extremely uniform crop with a limited range of parent, maintainer
and restorer lines.
Dr. Virmani says, however, that hybrids are not
necessarily more uniform than inbreds, besides, the parents of the
hybrids are the inbreds which are derived from genetically diverse
parents, therefore, genetic diversity of hybrids may be even more.
Having the bulk of the seeds produced by the
private sector could aggravate this. In seed production, private
seed companies tend to focus on a few varieties with broad
application, often ignoring local conditions. The private sector
does not engage in genetic conservation, and tends to use a more
narrow range of germplasm in developing products.
A big downside of hybrid rice is its cytoplasmic
uniformity. The cytoplasm is the stuff that surrounds the nucleus,
and carries extra-nuclear genes that can provide resistance to pests
and disease. Widespread cytoplasmic uniformity can lead to massive
crop failures, as when a fungus wiped out 15 percent of a corn crop
in the US in 1970. Almost the entire crop was derived from an
identical source of susceptible cytoplasm.
IRRI is aware of all these dangers. Dr. Virmani,
in his book Hybrid Rice, stated that “Continuous use of a CMS
system risks potential genetic vulnerability of the hybrids to a
biological stress.” Still, most hybrids released in Asia outside
of China are based on two CMS lines from IRRI. However, there is no
experimental evidence so far that would indicate the association of
widely used ‘WA’ cytoplasm to any disease/insect susceptibility.
IRRI is consciously working towards diversification of CMS sources
in its hybrid rice breeding program, said Dr. Virmani.
Spread too thin?
Dr. David has frequently voiced concerns about
the target hectarage for hybrid rice, which he thinks is too
ambitious aside from being already distributed in 57 provinces. He
said hybrid rice is location-specific, meaning, it could achieve
potential yields only in ideal conditions.
Dr. Jose Hernandez, chair of the Department of
Agronomy in the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB),
agrees. He said it would take a lot of resources to monitor the 57
provinces right from delivery of seeds to the application of various
aspects of farm management suited for the hybrid.
India did not adapt hybrid rice nationwide, and
other Asian countries that tried to spread out the hybrid coverage
suffered significant crop failures. Dr. Hautea’s question echoes
that in the minds of many: “If we are launching a nationwide
program, what’s the basis?”
Limited varieties
and irrigated areas
The Philippines has about two million hectares
of harvested irrigated rice areas. The current varieties for
irrigated areas, however, have to be tested further in the different
environments where irrigated rice grows, said Dr. Padolina.
He warns against thinking that hybrid rice alone
can bridge the difference between self-sufficiency and continuing
importation. “Whenever you look at the hybrid program in the
context of the Philippine rice industry I think it has to be
situated within the total rice production program. In other words,
we cannot grow just hybrid alone. It has to be a combination of the
inbreds, the traditional varieties, the new plant types, the modern
rice varieties coming from both IRRI and PhilRice, and the
hybrids.”
Dr. Wilfredo P. David, professor and chancellor
of UPLB, suggests continuing the development of hybrid varieties and
their testing in different locations around the Philippines. This
would enable PhilRice, being a research and development institution,
to track down some production constraints that may not yet be clear
at this stage.
Another main concern in a seed-oriented
technology is whether a sufficient amount of quality seeds can be
produced in time for the start of the cropping season. The outcome
of the program will depend largely on the production of enough seeds
with the proper quality.
PhilRice has data to show that the hybrid is
indeed delivering, in some cases, even more than the 15 to 20
percent expected additional yield difference over the inbreds.
However, since the scope of the hybrid commercialization covers the
“favorably irrigated” farms managed very likely by better-off
farmers, Dr. David wonders if PhilRice is not in effect comparing
well-equipped progressive farmers and those that have less than
ideal farm conditions and facilities.
Expense on subsidy
Dr. Obien estimates that importing a million
tons of rice would cost us P10 billion. So he says, why can’t we
spend it on hybrid rice?
Given the same government inputs, can we not
gain from the inbreds whatever we can gain from the hybrids? Dr.
Hautea says, “I don’t think the government has launched anything
before to support the inbreds.”
Dr. David is also concerned. “They subsidized
50 percent of the seeds and then they complain that they don’t
have budget for R&D. PhilRice is a research institution and yet
they are veering from their mandate.”
The technology is here, but Dr. Virmani says
that its promotion and the extent of its adoption by farmers will
depend upon certain institutions and the government policy support.
“As I see it, the government of the Philippines is providing at
the moment policy support. I’m still not sure whether the targets
have been fixed, or whether the arrangements have been made to
fulfill all these targets adequately.”
Dr. Virmani said it is important that PhilRice
is doing its best, but other institutions must work with it. Aside
from the budget, there are other important resources such as
institutional linkages and the committed support of everyone
involved.
Hybrid rice must be complementary to the other
types of rice varieties and must work alongside them, said Dr.
Padolina. “Hybrid rice used alone as a strategy to improve
productivity would not be able to solve everything that we now face
in terms of problems in rice production.”
More than skeptics, it turns out that the bigger
enemy of the commercialization or promotion program is hybrid rice
itself. The nature of the hybrid, being location-specific,
susceptible to disease, and genetically uniform endanger its very
survival along with other rice varieties, cultivated or not.
PhilRice must find a way to lower the cost of
production and price of seeds, said Dr. Hernandez. They must teach
farmers’ cooperatives to produce seeds to lessen their dependence
on private seed companies, and that production of hybrid seeds
should be done here in the Philippines.
Dr. Hernandez suggests that since implementation
of the hybrid rice program involves agriculture agencies anyway, the
Department of Agriculuture (DA) should be the implementor of the
program and PhilRice must be left to their primary mandate of
research and development. Dividing the management of inbred rice and
hybrid rice to DA and PhilRice doubles expenses and monitoring
requirements on more than 50 provinces nationwide.
Dr. Obien says there is always uncertainty of
success in any enterprise. Not all the farmers will get it right at
once, but if the techno-logy can be studied further it can
eventually be done. He said that success of the program would also
depend on support.
“Let’s try it,” says Dr. Sebastian,
Obien’s successor. “If we kill the technology right away,
we’ll never gain from it.”
Scientists from UP Los Baños believe that
hybrid technology is scientifically sound and has real promise.
However, they are concerned that the manner in which the
government is pursuing the commercialization of hybrid rice may
result in inappropriate use of the technology.
If this happens, Dr. Hautea wonders if
farmers will still trust science-based technologies.
Dr. Hernandez said the major issue is whether
adoption of the technology would improve the welfare of our farmers.
He recognizes the potential in hybrid rice but feels that the
government is too much in a hurry to implement it, and the farmers
and PhilRice are forced to catch up. In fairness to the present
administration, farmers have always been asking for a program for
rice from the government.
Any new farming technology carries risks as much
as promises, and the best judge of it should be the biggest
stakeholders in the game — our farmers. 
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