Source: Manila Bulletin via SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center

The government is determined to plant more hybrid rice variety within the next six years to raise adequate food supply for the growing population and create more livelihood opportunities to combat poverty.

"Our ability to produce more rice translates to more livelihood opportunities and ultimately, to an adequately fed population - key elements in the eradication of poverty and in the attainment of economic development and lasting peace within our shores," said agriculture secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. in a statement.

He underscored these points at a seminar, with the theme "Rice and the Filipinos: The Last 100 Years," held at the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) compound along Visayas Avenue in Quezon City.

The seminar is the first in a series of eight seminars being jointly sponsored by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), in collaboration with the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, and the Leyte State University.

The series of seminars highlights observance in the country of the International Year of Rice 2004 that was declared last year by the United Nations General Assembly. The Philippines was among its main sponsors.

Lorenzo said that some 2.5 million hectares have been planted to rice by over two million Filipino farmers and another one million landless workers, all of whom derive 80 percent of their income from palay harvest.

With introduction of the Gloria Rice hybrid program, which could double or triple rice production of farmers, he said, rice farming has again emerged as an attractive livelihood option and a dependable source of sustenance for our rapidly growing population.

"In a country that has doubled or more than doubled its population in 30 years with smaller land and less water resources, we have to look at technology as a solution," Lorenzo said.

The government would continue to maintain the hybrid rice program in the next three to six years, plus the possible introduction of some genetically modified varieties from PhilRice.

According to a 2001 PhilRice study, the country's actual yield amount to an average of only three tons per hectare compared to its potential of 12 tons per hectare.

The 130,000 hectares already planted with hybrid rice could be expanded to one million hectares next year.

Lorenzo said that success stories in the last three years, particularly on the use of hybrid rice, are indicative of the tremendous opportunities open to farmers and entrepreneurs in the countryside, including the possibility of developing rice hulls into an alternative source of energy.