Harvest Time

By February 3, 2009Archives, Opinion

Achievable targets in hybrid rice production program urged

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By Dr. Sosimo Ma. Pablico

FROM ALL INDICATIONS, hybrid rice production can very well provide sufficient rice to feed the country’s burgeoning population, but the former coordinator of the national hybrid rice production program, Dr. Manuel G. Gaspar, urges officials to set achievable targets.

Dr. Gaspar, a chief science research specialist of PhilRice (Philippine Rice Research Institute) and now the Institute’s branch manager in Isabela, recalled that commercial production targets were not met all the time, resulting in the production of excess hybrid seeds.

In 2001-2002 alone, only 30 percent of the target 135,000 ha for commercial hybrid rice production was planted because of seed insufficiency, as only a few seed growers tried to produce hybrid rice seeds du-ring the initial stage of the program. The DA imported hybrid seeds from China but the expected yield was not attained.

Thus, the government encouraged more seed growers to produce hybrid rice seeds. From 2002 to 2004, Dr. Gaspar said, the government bought the harvest of hybrid rice seed producers at PhP2,400 per bag of 20 kg or PhP120/kg and sold the F1 seeds to farmers at half the price. The farmers paid PhP600 per bag upon receipt of the seeds and the balance of PhP600 per bag after harvest.

True enough, more seed growers produced hybrid rice seeds, including former commercial rice producers. However, Dr. Gaspar said not all the seeds produced were used for commercial production even as the amount produced every season was not enough for the projected commercial production area. The reason was simple: the farmers planted much lesser area for commercial cultivation than the projected area.

For example, of the 200,000 hectares projected for commercial production in 2003, only 80,061 ha were planted. Think about it, the seed producers that year produced 142,155 bags of hybrid seeds. Since one bag of 20 kg was enough to plant a hectare, this volume of seeds should have been planted in 142,155 ha. What’s more, there was an existing stock that was not used in the previous seasons.

The problem became so acute and so in mid-2004, the regional field units (RFUs) of DA, PhilRice and a group of seed growers entered into a memorandum of agreement on the marketing of hybrid seeds. As agreed the seed growers bore the responsibility of selling their produce at PhP650 per bag of 20 kg, which was considered the farmer’s equity.

It was the responsibility of the RFUs to collect the payment from the farmers and remit it to the seed growers. In addition, the government paid PhP1,750 per bag of the contracted volume of seeds that were distributed and planted by the farmers. The subsidy was gradually phased out as follows: 2005, PhP1,300 per bag; 2006, PhP1,200 per bag; 2007, PhP1,000.

As a result, many seed growers and farmers began to lose interest, Dr. Gaspar said. “On the brighter side, it made them realize that they must learn to sustain an industry with minimal government supervision. It awakened them to develop marketing strategies in a level playing field where competition exists.”

Other constraints were also encountered. For instance, the Quedan Corporation took so long to process loan documents. Farmers with outstanding loan balance were allowed to borrow again after paying 10 percent of the loan.

For us to attain the promised potential of hybrid rice, there is a need for the following: a detailed master plan, more refined technologies and well polished policies, program managers well trained on hybrid rice technology, and farmers who can market their produce with lesser or no government intervention. (With Miriam G. Layaoen)

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