The rice sector in the country is also characterized by low levels of public investment on research, development, extension, irrigation, and farm to market roads, said an International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) report.
The limited availability of high-quality seeds persist despite the release of new varieties of rice to farmers.
Over the last five years, several rice varieties were released by the Philippine Rice Research Institute including inbred varieties with high average yield of 4.5 and 4.9 metric tons (MT) per hectare; early maturing varieties, 106 days compared to other varieties with 115 to 120 duration; and stop-gap variety against tungro disease.
The private sector has also developed high yielding hybrid rice varieties that had an average yield of seven MT per hectare but whose high yield range reaches to 14 to 17 MT per hectare.
As the Philippines has remained rice import-dependent, rice experts have recommended government’s intensification of promotion of its hybrid rice commercialization program (HRCP), evaluation of the HRCP, and development of alternative credit schemes for rice farmers.
Other priorities for government are the implementation of a logistic value chain with the rice agribusiness system which should cut production cost, liberalization of hybrid rice seed importation, strengthening of its linkages with other institutions, and more investments in research and extension.
Since 1961, when the Philippines produced at an average of 1.23 MT per hectare with a total of 3.9 million MT output, yield growth more than doubled to 3.28 MT per hectare as of 2002 while total output expanded three times to 13.27 million MT the same year.
Yet, growth still falls below the country’s objective to cut imports with 808,000 MT import as of 2002. For 2005, rice import is even bigger at 1.6 million MT amid the rice sufficiency target set in 2001 to be achieved by the end of 2004.
Value-adding of rice technologies, according to the report, is pertinent to farmers’ earning higher income. These value-adding activities include development of canned rice foods which are thermally processed, rice flour that have longer shelf-life and processing suitability; rice wine which should have standardized culture system; and rice beer.
Other added sources of income for rice farmers are the development of biomass including bioorganic fertilizer from food wastes, farm biomass, compost, carbonized rice hull, and beneficial microorganisms for commercial use.
The development of these organic fertilizers has become timely with the rising cost of chemicalbased imported fertilizers.
Also offering huge earning opportunities for rice farmers are organic rice products, brown or polished, without synthetic agro-chemical inputs. These, however, should be studied for nutritional analysis as they claim to have higher nutritional value.
For the development of rice varieties, the country needs to improve on genetic improvement of micronutrient-rich rice, evaluation of rice breeding for unfavorable rice ecosystems (saline soil, drought areas), farmers’ participation in rice improvement, and evaluation of rice’s grain quality.
Crop protection is also an area that needs to be improved if farmers have to raise their livelihood levels. Here, site-specific nutrient management has to be strengthened. Management of rainfed lowland, upland rice-based areas, and of wet direct-seeded rice should also be improved.
