Seed growers seek ban on untested rice, corn varieties

Local seed growers want the Department of Agriculture (DA) to ban the entry of untested imported hybrid rice and corn varieties used in the government’s program to commercialize hybrid rice and corn production.

In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban the Philippine Seed Industry Association, Inc. (PSIA), said it is opposing called the "relentless" promotion of these varieties that have not undergone trials and evaluation safeguards by the National Cooperative Testing (NCT) unit of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC) of the DA.

The PSIA said some hybrid field corn varieties from China had not gone through the release protocol of the NCT.

The PSIA, comprising 20 members, urged Panganiban to prohibit the use of imported seed varieties in the government‚s rice and corn hybrid commercialization program that have not been subjected to NSIC testing.

The group said that because many of these imported hybrid rice and corn varieties bypassed the NSIC, there have been several incidents where farmers participating in the program suffered huge losses because of poor quality seeds.

"With this situation, the PSIA is highly recommending that the hybrid corn varieties imported and entered in national or local government programs, either as donation or subsidy must first undergo the NCT of the BPI-NSIC and pass the government body’s standards for accreditation," asserted PSIA.

The PSIA cited that in 2000 imported hybrid rice seeds from China were planted during the dry season of the same year. Overall, the yield performance of these varieties was a disaster, the PSIA said.

"Had preventive measures been in place, such as requiring regulatory field testing of these hybrid varieties, our farmers would not have experienced such loss and tragedy in their simple and primary source of livelihood," noted the PSIA.

The DA is pushing hard for the commercial production of hybrid rice and corn to achieve its goal of achieving self-sufficiency in these two commodities by 2010. It has even provided several forms of assistance such as seed subsidy for participating farmers.