DA pushes hybrid seeds to boost rice production

The sum of P110 million has been released by the Department of Agriculture to the DA-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) for the procurement of hybrid rice seeds to boost rice production in the country.

At the same time, DA released P10 million to support training activities, technology demonstrations, research and development (R&D) projects, and information campaigns.

The P110 million will backstop the Rice Seed System Action Program (RSSAP) component of DA’s Agrikulturang MakaMASA for Rice.

The RSSAP was implemented starting last year as a strategy to increase the usage of certified palay seeds by farmers and, therefore, improve yields and total rice production in the country.

During the seed program’s maiden year of implementation, the country harvested 12.39 million metric tons of palay, up from 11.5 million MT in the previous year.

The RSSAP, which entails the procurement of certified seeds from accredited rice seed growers and their distribution to farmers by the DA-National Food Authority (NFA), helped increase the utilization of certified seeds by farmers from 15 percent to 35 percent. This had a significant impact on the yields which grew from 2.95 to 3.07 tons per hectare across all ecosystems and from 3.35 to 3.48 t/ha in irrigated areas.

For this year, the government is targeting a palay production output of 13.5 million MT.

To achieve this, DA will continue its efforts to promote the utilization of quality seeds. In addition to inbred certified seeds, it will promote the commercial use of hybrid seeds.

Dr. Frisco Malabanan of PhilRice, national program director for rice, reported that last year, the hybrid rice program, which started in 1998, was given much focus and attention.

The total area planted to commercial hybrid rice was 2,096 ha. The targeted area for 2001 is 25,000 ha and is expected to cover 150,000 ha by next year.

Nine of the country’s 15 regions would be the focus of this year’s hybrid rice program because of their potential for commercial rice production. Regions 2, 3, 10, and 11 would be the focus for hybrid seed production.

Under the implementing guidelines prepared by DA, for the seed requirement of a region that can be adequately supplied by local seed growers, funds will be released to the DA-Regional Field Unit (RFU).

In regions where the hybrid seeds will come from the seed growers from other regions, PhilRice will procure the hybrid seeds directly from the seed growers from other regions or any accredited hybrid seed companies. The total seed requirements will be based on the seed requirements of the masterlisted farmers willing to pay the 50-percent cost of seeds, which is P1,200 per 20 kilo bag.

PhilRice will faciliate the procurement of hybrid seeds of regions with no available seed growers within the locality.

The DA-RFUs will distribute the hybrid seeds to the farmer-beneficiaries (FBs) under the following schemes:

• For DA-RFU-masterlisted FBs, seeds will be sold at 50 percent subsidized price of P1,200; the other half will be paid/shouldered by the rice program.

• For other farmers not included in the masterlist, they will pay 100 percent of the cost of hybrid seeds, provided there is sufficient supply.

DA-RFU will accept payment from FBs and remit the collection to PhilRice.

In areas where hybrid seed production and hybrid rice seed utilization are supervised by DA-RFU, the fund will be released by PhilRice to the RFU.

The local government unit (LGU) will submit to the DA-RFU a masterlist of FBs who are willing to pay half of the cost of seed upon delivery.

The DA-RFU will provide PhilRice a copy of the masterlist which will be the institute’s basis in transferring the fund to DA-RFU amounting to 50 percent of the total cost of seed plus freight cost.

Another copy of the masterlist will be provided to the seed growers (SG) within the region. The SG and seed company dealers will distribute the seeds to the FBs and collect half of the price of the hybrid seed (P1,200). The SG will submit to DA-RFU a copy of the official receipt and delivery receipt signed by the FB for payment of the other half of the cost of hybrid seeds.

Only seeds that pass the minimum seed quality standard set by the Bureau of Plant Industry-National Seed Quality Control Services will be paid by the program.

In regions where seed growers are not available but the FBs are willing to plant hybrid seeds and have the funds to pay the 50 percent cost of seeds, the LGU shall submit to DA-RFU the masterlist of such FBs.

The requesting DA-RFU will inform PhilRice on the region’s hybrid seed requirement. PhilRice will coordinate with the other regions with hybrid rice seed growers for possible source of hybrid seeds to supply the requirement of the requesting DA-RFUs.

The SG/seed company will deliver to PhilRice the seed requirement of the requesting DA-RFU at the least cost possible.

PhilRice and DA-RFU will sign a memorandum of agreement indicating that DA-RFU will be responsible/accountable for collecting from the FBs the payment of the 50 percent cost of seeds.