by Rocel C. Felix
The Philippine Star via The SEAMEO SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center
 
President Arroyo has ordered Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. to expand the coverage of the agriculture department’s hybrid rice program in Mindanao.

The President’s directive came after reports that hybrid rice varieties collectively known as "Gloria Rice," have been raising farmers’ yield and income up to twice or even thrice those of conventional rice breeds.

Thus, the DA will initially plant hybrid rice in at least 4,530 hectares in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the wet cropping season between May and October this year, on top of 2,500 hectares in Lanao del Norte and 1,650 hectares in Compostela Valley.

Lorenzo said the entire Mindanao island will go hybrid with 57,230 hectares to be planted with the high-yielding seed in the coming season or more than thrice bigger than the 15,712 hectares planted the previous cropping.

He said the total hybrid rice hectarage targeted for ARMM next cropping would be more than double the 2,061 hectares planted in the region the previous season.

Basilan will also begin to go hybrid with at least 30 hectares of its rice area targeted to be planted the next cropping. Lanao del Norte, will intensify its hybrid rice propagation by having its previous 258 hectares expanded by almost tenfold in the next season, the DA chief said.

Compostela Valley, which had been recently infested by communist insurgency had 356 hectares already planted to "Gloria Rice" between November 2003 and April this year but with the presidential directive, the province’s hybrid production area would be widened by 319 percent.

The planting of hybrid rice is a major component of the GMA Rice Program which is targetting to achieve a 97 percent self-suffciency in rice this year with projected palay production of 14.9 million metric tons (MT).

For the first semester, the DA is projecting palay production to reach 5.91 million MT, up by 10 percent during the same period last year.

Lorenzo said this year’s target can be achieved by using better and higher-yielding hybrid and certified seeds.

Under GMA’s rice program, about 400,000 hectares will be planted to hybrid and certified rice seeds with 100,000 and 300,000 hectares targeted for planting in the dry season or from November 2003 to April 2004.

For the wet season or from May-October 2004, the program coverage will be expanded to 550,00 hectares, of which 200,000 hectares will be planted to hybrid and 350,000 hectares to certified seeds.

By 2005, the program’s coverage will further increase to 650,000 hectares wherein 400,000 hectares will be planted to hybrid and 250,000 hectares to certified seeds.