Data culled by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) for yields of hybrid rice show the average yield to be only 5.58 metric tons (MT) per hectare from 2008 to 2009.

These data contradict the claim of Dr. Frisco Malabanan, chief of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) rice program of the Department of Agriculture (DA), that hybrid rice farmers could harvest as much as 12 MT, much higher than the average of 7.73 MT per hectare (ha) in 55,000 ha of farms in Nueva Ecija for the dry crop this year.

On the other hand, the average yield for certified seeds in 93,000 ha in the same province was 5.7 MT per ha, much higher than the average national harvest of 4.44 MT per ha for 2008 and 2009.

Nationwide, Malabanan calculated the average yield of inbred rice seeds was between 4 MT and 5 MT.

The total target area for hybrids was 505,623 ha, nearly 20 percent of all rice farms in the entire country, with 1,644,344 ha irrigated and 938,154 ha rain-fed in both lowland and upland areas.

At the same time, the projected production for hybrids for 2011 dry season is only 2,818,976 MT while the yield for certified seeds is only 2,246,491, for an advantage of 572,485 MT for hybrids.

This means that on the average, hybrids lead to only a 25 percent increase in output.

To achieve these yields for hybrids, the DA needed P1,769,680,500 to subsidize the seeds and distribute the same to farmers.

Under P2,000 assistance scheme, only a total of P1,011,246,000 was required.

All told, the area to be cultivated for hybrids in 2011 would be 314,255 ha, with incremental production placed at 372,115 MT.

Malabanan said that by planting hybrids, farmers would enjoy a profit increase to at least P30,000 per hectare from only P15,000 in the past.

“Hybrid rice achieves greater yields and thus farmers earn more without increasing their cultivation area,” he added.

He explained that “hybrid rice takes advantage of the phenomenon of hybrid vigor to achieve yields 15%–30% higher than nonhybrid (inbred) varieties.”

“Over the past three decades, the technology has helped China achieve food security, but it has not yet reached its potential in the tropics,” he said. “Hybrid rice technology can raise the yield of rice and thus overall rice productivity and profitability in Asia.”

A hybrid rice variety, also referred to as F1, is the first generation product of crossing two rice plants with superior qualities, he said.

Two kinds of varieties are sown and grown side by side and pollination is done by natural and artificial means, he added.

He added that these superior qualities of both parents are passed on to the seed and results in ‘hybrid vigor’ or heterosis. “This clearly means that the hybrid rice variety that farmers now use to get more yield and income is not a GMO or genetically modified organism,” Malabanan said.

He pointed out that the hybrids (F1) produce more grains per panicle than most inbred rice varieties.

These factors result to higher yields than ordinary rice, also known as inbreds, he said. “When planted, the hybrid rice commercial cultivation procedure is basically the same as inbred rice varieties,” Malabanan said.

Reproduction is also through self-pollination and the harvest (palay) looks the same as those of inbreds, he said. But such hybrid seeds cannot be used for replanting, he said, because hybrid vigor is lost resulting in yield reduction, and non-uniform crop stand and maturity.

Malabanan said that although it requires greater attention in seed and seedling management, hybrid rice is grown much like inbred varieties.

Since 2001, the DA’s GMA Rice Program has been pushing the use of high-yielding rice varieties like hybrid seeds, which can enable farmers to harvest as high as 12 MT per hectare.

“Hybrid rice may be thought of as a low-adoption technology among farmers because it is a season- and location-specific technology that need further information campaigns,” he said.

In the early years of the program, there were limited numbers of hybrid rice varieties that farmers could choose from, Malabanan said.

“But nowadays, more private companies engage in hybrid rice research and development (R&D), and the seed business,” he said, “so there are many varieties available in the market that are suitable to every farmer’s needs.”