80 rice varieties bred in past 15 years

Very active.

This best describes the country’s rice research sector insofar as its performance in the past 15 years is concerned.

Proof: 80 improved and high-yielding varieties of rice (HYVs) bred from 1990 to 2004. This gives farmers enough latitude to select which varieties suit their agro-ecological systems.

Responsible for the development of the HYVs were the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice), U.P. Los Baños (UPLB), DA-Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), and private entities such as Monsanto, Bayer, and SL Agritech.

Of the 80 varieties bred by the rice research entities, 41 were churned out by IRRI, 19 by DA-PhilRice, nine by UPLB, two by Monsanto, and one each by BPI, Bayer, and SL Agritech.

Six were traditional varieties also approved for commercial production by the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC), the government body under DA that helps develop the local seed industry.

Of the 80 varieties, 39 are suited for irrigated lowland, among them hybrid varieties such as Magat, Mestiso, Mestiso 1, Mestiso 2, Mestiso 3, Mestiso 4, and Mestiso 5. With these varieties, the DA headed by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, is implementing the Hybrid Rice Commercialization Program to enable the country to become self-sufficient in rice at the soonest time.

Six of the 80 varieties are glutinous (malagkit) that feel at home in irrigated lowland. Eight have been bred for the rainfed lowland (transplanted) ecosystem while seven are suited for rainfed dry-seeded condition.

The cool elevated areas have also been beneficiaries of the research breakthroughs achieved by IRRI and PhilRice in the form of six varieties suited to such places.

Also not overlooked were saline-prone lowland areas, for which eight varieties were bred, and the upland farms, six.

Some of the varieties give a maximum yield of 10.2 tons per hectare (more than 200 cavans per hectare). The average yield of the irrigated lowland variety ranges from 4.4 t/ha (88 cavans/ha) to 6.2 t/ha (124 cavans/ha).

The varieties for upland and saline-prone irrigated lowland yield from 2 to 3 t/ha, although their maximum yield is more than double the average. – Rudy A. Fernandez