Phl, China developing super hybrid rice

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is poised to achieve a high average rice yield of 10 metric tons (MT) per hectare as it collaborates with China on the development of a super hybrid rice that could potentially push cost down to a cheap P5 per kilo.  

The target is possible as the super hybrid rice that the China National Hybrid Rice R&D Center (CNHR-RDC) is developing has already hit a milestone when it reached in 2011 a goal to yield 13.5 MT.

Local rice experts are also ready to demonstrate the real potential of hybrid rice to raise yield during  a harvest festival by SL Agritech Corp. (SLAC) on April 15.    

The harvest festical will be held  in a farm in Tabacao, Talavera, Nueva Ecija, tilled by an outstanding farmer Ricardo Buenaventura who is believed to be capable of producing this “10-5” target.  

Raising yield to lower the cost is the single biggest challenge faced by the Department of Agriculture (DA) now. It would be the key to help farmers enjoy higher levels of living.  

“The government’s program right now is to show farmers how to earn more because what’s important is how much is left in the pocket of farmers, not just how much income they make,” said DA Secretary Proceso J. Alcala.  

The country is already approaching rice self-sufficiency with only 187,000 metric tons (MT) of imports this year.  

“But after attaining self-sufficiency, our next move is to help farmers lower production cost,” Alcala said.  

Through the super hybrid rice and 10-5 program (SHR-10-5), government is optimistic the goal to make Filipino farmers rich is achievable.    

“We want to have a yield of 10 tons at a cost of P5 per kilo. That’s the dream. We have a long ongoing cooperation with China in Philscat. We’re establishing more aggressive cooperation because China was the one that gave us initial programs on hybridization of rice,” Alcala said.  

Yuan Long Ping, known as the Father of Hybrid Rice and CNHR-RDC director general, foresees the SHR to become a commercial success in the Philippines in three years.

Yuan was  the premiere guest at the recent Philippine first hybrid rice congress.

“We will send super hybrid varieties for testing here next year – in the dry season,” said Yuan. â€œMaybe after three years, our super hybrid rice will be commercialized in the Philippines through our joint efforts. We will strengthen the friendship between Philippines and China through it.”  

The P5 per kilo production cost is possible if farmers will have an average of 10 MT yield at a P50,000 per hectare cost, according to Henry Lim Bon Liong, SLAC chairman.   

SLAC has a long-standing collaboration with CNHR-RDC that has resulted in the development of SL-8H hybrid rice. This has enabled farmers to yield seven to 10 MT per hectare from their former three to five MT using inbreds.  

Yuan’s super hybrid rice in 1999  recorded a  yield of 17.055 MT per hectare in Yongsheng county in Yunnan province.  

Mechanization is an important component of the SHR-10-5 which would be provided through the Philscat or the Philippine Sino Center for Agricultural Technology with  a P69 million grant by China up to 2016.  

“In China about 70 percent of our rice field is mechanized. That includes everything, not only hybrid rice,” said Yuan.  

Another enabling environment to make rice farming prosperous, according to Yuan, is provision of seed and tax incentives.

“Our government has many good policies to encourage farmers. One is they provide free-of-charge hybrid rice seeds. The seed company does not need to pay tax.  It’s an efficient and economical way to increase food production. Hybrid rice increases rice production very fast. Of course cost of seed is higher, but economic return is much higher than any seed cost,” said Yuan.   

China’s SHR program consists of four phases. 

Phase 1 raised yield of 8.25 MT per hectare yield in the 1990s to 10.5 MT as of 2000. 

In  Phase 2 from 2001 to 2005, it achieved 12 MT. 

The ongoing Phase 3 already reached its target of 13.5 MT in 2011.  

Phase 4 has a target yield of 15 MT set to be achieved by 2020.  

China presently has 17 million hectares of hybrid rice area, 58 percent of its 29.5 million hectare rice area, feeding some 70 million people. 

On the other hand, the Philippines’ hybrid rice area is placed at just five percent at 146,000 hectares in 2012.      

DA assistant secretary Dante S. Delima said the government is supporting the expansion of hybrid rice areas which is targeted to reach to 281,397 hectares in 2013. This would further be expanded to 350,000 hectares by 2014.    

Government is also expanding the Sikat Saka program which now has a P500 million loan facility through Land Bank of the Philippines and a supposedly more relaxed application procedure.  

“Now the collateral (required is) not just land title, but motor vehicle registrations, credentials of carabao (as plowing animal),” Delima said.