RP to start commercial use of 4 Chinese hybrid rice varieties

The country will start the commercialization of at least four new hybrid rice seed varieties from China by 2007, a leading agriculture official said.

"The results of our tests for two cropping seasons are very promising and there is a likelihood that we could have the selected varieties commercially available in two years," said Dr. Romeo B. Gavino, director of the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology (Philscat) in Nueva Ecija.

Gavino said the adaptability trials started with 40 Chinese hybrid rice seed varieties since 2003. The varieties were narrowed down to four varieties.

"These varieties, the LP 00331, LP 0353, LP0364, and LP 0368 are showing the best potentials for adaptability and commercialization in the Philippines," noted Gavino.

In the two trials held in selected sites nationwide, the average yield ranged from nine to 11 metric tons (MT) per hectare which is substantially higher than the existing national average yield of three MT per hectare using traditional rice varieties.

"We checked these varieties’ characteristics against local hybrid and inbred varieties and their performance was better in most respects," noted Gavino.

He said all four varieties’ yields on a per hectare basis were higher by 20 percent compared to locally-produced hybrid rice seeds.

Moreover, the Chinese varieties had stronger resistance to the bacterial leaf blight that often plagues hybrid rice, especially during the wet season.

Gavino said Philscat will continue to test these varieties for another two seasons and will be recommended for accreditation by the National Cooperative Testing Program which in turn, will endorse its approval for commercialization to the National Seed Industry Council.

The trials are being conducted under the five-year, P500-million Philippines-China technical cooperation program in agriculture with Philscat, created to promote hybrid rice technology.

The Philippines, a net importer or rice, is pushing for an expanded adoption of hybrid rice technology in its bid to make the country achieve self-sufficiency in rice.

Hybrid rice is an emerging technology across Asia and the tropics. This is due to improvements made on the technology by International Rice Research Institute and a few National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), including that of the Philippines, following the successful adoption of hybrid rice by China.

In the Philippines, PhilRice is mandated to lead the research and development , promotion, and commercialization of hybrid rice.

Some of the key players in the local hybrid rice seed business are SL Agritech, Bayer CropScience, Monsanto and Syngenta.