Hybrid rice to boost RP food security drive

MANILA, Philippines - Hybrid rice varieties would be a big help in the Philippines’ effort to attain food security, SL Agritech Corp. chairman and chief executive officer Henry Lim said.

He said the area planted to hybrid rice varieties in the country may expand to over 800,000 hectares over the next five years.

This is equivalent to an additional seven tons per hectare or a total of 5.6 million metric tons of palay, he said, adding that this would translate to 3.7 million metric tons of rice. This, according to Lim, is the minimum needed to make the Philippines self-sufficient in rice.

Lim pointed out that initiatives from the private sector have led to advances in hy-brid rice technology which is now keeping the country’s supply of rice up.

This bid to increase rice production, Lim said, is similar to the successful implanta-tion of hybrid rice technology in China which has enabled it to feed over 1.3 billion people with a surplus to spare.

SL Agritech has been a pioneer in hybrid rice production with its SL-8H variant and the Doña Maria brand of rice.

The SL-8H hybrid rice variant is known to yield 180-335 cavans of rice per hectare, which is two to three times higher than the yields of inbred or ordinary rice varieties.

The SL-8H variety is also known to do well during the dry season.

SL Agritech’s Doña Maria is a premium, export quality rice that combines the good qualities of Jasmine rice and the Japanese rice variety called Japonica.

The Doña Maria brand has been gaining wide acceptance among households as well as big hotels and restaurants.

Lim projects net sales of the company’s seeds and specialty rice combined to reach P10 billion in 2015.

“Many farmers are planting the hybrid rice seeds because they are now convinced that it has substantially increased their production and income,” said Lim.

SL Agritech also exports hybrid rice seeds to other countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Recently, the company entered into an agreement with the Bangladesh Agricultural Department Corp. (BADC) making Bangladesh its newest hybrid rice seed production site, expanding its 250-hectare site to a minimum of 600 hectares.

In Indonesia, SL Agritech has 1,700 hectares for hybrid rice seed production expanding to 3,000 hectares by next year.