Hybrid seeds seen to boost rice output

PUNE, India – Dinkar Bhor, a farmer in the Hiware village, oversees an acre of land planted with vegetables the whole year round. As his family’s main source of living, he uses a hybrid seed variety to ensure he gets the highest yield possible to maximize his profit.

Hybrid seeds, a product of cross-pollination, increase the yield potential of a crop versus heirloom or traditional seeds. India has not only continuously sought technological advances in growing vegetables, but also in  grains as well (such as rice, wheat, and corn) as it recognizes the increasing need for food as its population grows.

The Philippines, thus,  should also improve its rice varieties if it wants to have adequate supply to feed its growing population highly dependent on the crop, Swapan Kumar Datta, deputy director general for crop science at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, told The STAR during a Syngenta-hosted media workshop here.

“What the Philippines needs is a controlled irrigation management for rice production so high-yielding varieties can be grown… They also need to put more money into R&D (research and development) so that they can help improve varieties to become suitable for the Philippines,” Datta said.

Datta, who spent 12 years in the Philippines as a senior scientist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), noted that since the country has limited farm lands, more agricultural practices should be utilized  to increase the volume of rice production. Doing so would  help the country decrease its rice imports, he said.

Palay (paddy rice)  production in the Philippines fell  1.12 percent to 11.36 million metric tons in the nine months to September from 11.489 MMT in the same period last year, latest data available from the Agriculture department show. The decrease in the volume was due to damage incurred by farmlands following recent typhoons that hit the country earlier this year.

Rice fields in Cagayan Valley, for example, suffered due to Typhoon Labuyo in August and Typhoon Odette in September, while palay production in Western Visayas declined amid delayed planting as a result of the late onset of rainfall.

A number of farms and irrigation infrastructure in the regions of Bicol, Ilocos, and Davao were also damaged by Typhoons Maring and Nando and the habagat in August and Typhoon Odette in September.

Datta explained that as the volume of production is highly dependent on the weather, the Philippines should invest heavily in developing and using varieties that are weather-tolerant.

“The weather in the Philippines is like India – the sunlight is enough and there is lots of rain. But you have to develop certain varieties that are capable of producing enough grain under the weather conditions in the Philippines,” Datta said.

“There are a lot of materials coming from IRRI and PhilRice (the Agriculture department’s Philippine Rice Research Institute) so they have to take on projects that will give them other varieties… that can do well under Philippine weather conditions,” he stressed.

Just last month, the Philippines’ bid to be self-sufficient in the grain was crushed after Typhoon Yolanda hit rice-producing regions in the Visayas and destroyed more than P9-billion worth of crops and agriculture infrastructure. Rice crops incurred the brunt of the damage as about 143,774 MT of palay worth P2.33 billion were demolished.

Following the typhoon, the National Food Authority (NFA), an inter-agency council chaired by the Agriculture Secretary, ordered the importation of 500,000 MT of rice from Vietnam to replenish the country’s buffer stock. The NFA earlier said 200,000 MT of rice may be delivered before the year ends, while the remaining would be shipped early next year.

The country had hoped it could achieve rice self-sufficiency this year and do away with imports starting 2014.

However, since palay production volume this year is seen to register a flat growth over 2012’s figure, a level sufficient to cover domestic requirements but not enough to maintain a 90-day buffer stock, the country may be prompted to order more rice abroad.

The Philippines was the world’s largest rice importer in 2010 when it ordered 2.45 million MT of the crop. The amount, however, fell sharply to 860,000 MT in 2011 and further to 500,000 in 2012.

Apart from the 500,000 MT ordered in November, the country has already imported 205,700 MT of rice from Vietnam under a government-to-government transaction.

Datta stressed the Philippines should focus on increasing its rice production volume as it is mainly a rice-consuming population.

But the Philippines isn’t the only one hounded by the problems of making agriculture sustainable and achieving food security.

“Asian countries must find how to change, how to combat weather with climate-resilient crops and find a way to be sustainable,” Datta said, stressing climate change has caused more losses in agricultural production in recent years.

He also recounted that governments should move towards aiding farmers so agricultural workers could increase their profits, making the industry sustainable as well.

“Integrating modern and old agricultural practices, giving farmers the knowledge to build a more sustainable, profitable agricultural industry should be done. Farmers need improved seeds and profit,” Datta said.

Increasing farmers’ productivity and their profits would help make agriculture sustainable in the long run, Datta stressed.

The right government policy, meanwhile, must also be in place to allow the farm sector to grow, he added.