DA eyes subsidy for hybrid rice seeds

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) may initiate a subsidy program for farmers to encourage them to use higher-yielding hybrid seeds to sustain record palay yields and help the government achieve self-sufficiency in rice.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said he would ask Malacañang to invest more in the production and distribution of hybrid seeds to further boost palay yields, raise the incomes of farmers and stabilize retail prices of the staple in the long term for the benefit of Filipino consumers.

Yap, apparently, is disregarding the argument of non-government organizations such as Rice Watch and Action Network (R1) and Centro Saka which are against hybrid seeds.

R1 and Centro Saka contend that reliance on the “one-use only” hybrid seeds would be costlier for the farmers and would benefit only one major hybrid seed company, SL Agritech.

Yap admitted that hybrid rice costs more but they yield up to seven tons of palay per hectare compared to only 4.5 tons a hectare using certified seeds.

The cost of regular or inbred rice certified seeds cost only P1,200 per bag, while hybrid seeds cost double at P2,400-P3,400 per bag.

To offset the high cost of hybrid seeds Yap said that he would encourage farmers to use organic fertilizers, which are cheaper, to promote sustainable agriculture.

As part of continued efforts to increase yields, which hit an all-time high of 16.24 million metric tons (MT) in 2007, Yap is encouraging farmers to use hybrid seeds in 200,000 to 250,000 hectares this year.

Yap said that providing hybrid seed subsidies for farmers was among the recommendations of the members of an Eminent Persons Group that the DA formed recently to help oversee the implementation of President Arroyo’s P43.7-billion package of intervention measures to sustain Philippine agriculture’s high growth path and guarantee the nation’s food security.

Meanwhile, the need to increase agricultural production in the face of a global food shortage is emboldening some sectors to question the continued viability of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) which is reportedly the biggest stumbling block to more efficient and productive corporate farming or large agricultural plantations.

Ric Pinca, executive director of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (PAFMIL) and former vice president of the Philippine Association of Feedmillers (PAFMI), yesterday wondered whether CARP was still feasible.

In a talk with reporters, Pinca pointed out that the production per hectare in the Philippines is just about two million MT compared to the worldwide average production of six million MT.

Because of CARP, most farmers’ landholding is between three to five hectares at the most, Pinca cited.

In order to improve efficiency and increase production, Pinca said there is a need to invest in machinery and post-harvest facilities such as dryers and mills.

Unfortunately, Pinca noted, “small farmers don’t have the money for such investments.”

Cityland co-founder and chairman Andrew Liuson and First Global BYO Corp. Philip Cea share the view of Pinca.

At the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) Rice Crisis Forum last Tuesday at the Manila Golf Club, Liuson and Cea also cited agrarian reform as the biggest stumbling block to corporate farming.

Liuson said agrarian reform hinders investors from going into corporate farming or large agricultural plantations because farm workers are entitled to demand ownership of the land under the CARP law.

“Government is urging big corporations to go into farming because they have the money. But why would they do so when their farm workers can lay claim to the land after the corporation has invested so much money to make the farm work?” Liuson said.

Cea himself complained that he had been into agricultural production in the past but lost his investments due to the implementation of CARP.

He pointed out that in other countries such as Australia, farmers are allowed to own vast tracts of land.

Under the CARP, big land parcels were subdivided into three to five hectares so that farmers who are actually tilling the land could own their own land.