Philippines Looking At Hybrid Rice For Self Sufficiency

According to the Philippines rice experts, the country should look at hybrid rice production very seriously in an attempt to increase its domestic production and attain the target of self-sufficiency in rice by the year 2010.

In the Philippines, hybrid rice only accounts for five percent of the total rice production.  In-bred rice, which is still the more popular and traditional choice, yields much less than hybrid–three to four MT against hybrid’s eight to 10 MT.

According to rice experts, another problem that needs to be addressed is fertilizer. While before it costs the farmer P350/sack, this same fertilizer now costs P2,000/sack.