Nigeria joins hybrid rice community

MANILA, Philippines - Nigeria, considered the most populated country in Africa with over 140 million people and one of the world’s biggest rice-consuming countries, has joined seven Asian countries to go into hybrid rice production.

Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh and Burma have been planting hybrid rice seeds imported from SL Agritech Corp., the country’s biggest producer of hybrid rice seeds.

Henry Lim, the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), said the Baklang Farms, a Nigerian agricultural firm, has signed an agreement with SL Agritech to use its hybrid rice seed technology “to develop its agriculture sector and provide food security to its populace.”

Data shows that older African rice plants produced only about 75-100 grains per panicle or head of grain. However, the hybrid rice varieties produced by SL Agritech could produce up to 400 grains per panicle and they could also be harvested 30-50 days earlier, thus allowing farmers to grow other crops such as beans and vegetables.

In addition, Lim said SL Agritech rice varieties have about two percent more body-building proteins than the older African rice varieties. This is an important benefit for a region such as Africa where malnutrition affects millions of children and pregnant women.

He said Madagascar is another country which has shown interest to use his firm’s high-yielding seeds variety, known as the SL-8H.

He said however, that SL Agritech will limit its hybrid seeds exportation “to ensure that we will have ready supply for our own farmers.”

“It is indeed a pity kung uunahin pa nating makinabang ang magsasaka sa ibang bansa kaysa sa ating magsasaka sa pagtatanim ng hybrid rice,kaya kami gumagawa ng ganitong hakbang. Ang aming tanging layunin ay matulungan ang ating mga magsasaka na lumago ang kanilang aanihing palay at lumaki rin ang kanilang kikitain sa pagsasaka,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Weijun Xu, vice president for external affairs of SL Agritech who arrived over the weekend from Bangladesh where he talked with officials of the state-owned Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corp. (BADC), said the Bangladesh government “fully recognizes the contribution of hybrid rice to its rice production program.”

“As a matter of fact, they want to produce the seeds in a massive quantity in the next few years and directly sell them to their farmers without any profit at all, if only to stabilize the price in the market,” said Weijun, a former rice scientist of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

He said Bangladesh’s seed production this year from the 300 hectares planted to SL-8H hybrid rice, “has tremendously increased to 750 tons or an average yield of two tons per hectare.”

In a partnership agreement signed sometime in 2009, SL Agritech will export an initial 500 metric tons of its parental seeds to Bangladesh which will produce the seeds initially in a 250-hectare riceland.