The Philippines government has signed an agreement with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to help it to grow enough rice to feed its own people within three years.

According to IRRI president Robert Zeigler, the institute would jointly work with Philippines Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Rice Research Institute to ramp up Philippine rice production.

Manila has been scrambling to boost stocks and supply cheap rice to the poor as rice prices soared to near-record levels in recent months amid increased demand, crop failures, a shift to bio fuels production or other land uses, and poor investment in the farm sector.