Much has been said and written about hybrid rice – that this miracle crop is a big boost to our rice
production program; that it is profitable, sustainable and environment-friendly; and that hybrid rice
technology would cut down rice importation thereby saving for the country billions and billions of
pesos every year.

According to Agriculture Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban, “We have shown and still proving to our
detractors that hybrid rice farming is indeed profitable and viable. We believe that farmers, who are
receptive in adopting modern farming technologies and practices, can truly increase their harvests
and at least double their previous incomes from rice farming.” In fact, he said, “we have already a
long list of farmers – thousands of them – who can attest to such claims.”

Frisco Malabanan, program director of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program of the
Department of Agriculture (DA), said studies of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) and the
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) showed that farmers using certified seeds earned only
P15,000 per hectare per crop which doubled to P30,000 per hectare per crop with the use of hybrid
rice technology.

He said the government implemented the hybrid rice technology in a bid to cut down rice importation,
create millions of jobs in the countryside and improve farmers’ income through higher yields.

“This was the result of the successful implementation of hybrid rice production technology in China
which enabled it to feed 1.3 billion people and still be in a position to export its surplus in the world
market,” he said.


The DA official said hybrid rice is now widely used in Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Ecija, Mindoro
Occidental and Mindoro Oriental, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, Bohol, Leyte, Zamboanga Sibugay and
Zamboang del

Sur, Bukidnon, Davao, North and South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Agusan Sur and in ARMM and in
Maguindanao.

But the nagging question is: How can we be self-sufficient in rice if there is no water to supply our
rice lands?

According to former Food Minister Jesus T. Tanchanco Sr., “no amount of technology or land
availability will produce rice if there is no water. Water is very basic, he said.

“We cannot maximize our rice production although we have large tracts of rice lands and modern
technology including the availability of high-yielding hybrid rice if we have insufficient irrigation
facilities,” he said.

Citing the importance of water – its demand for agriculture, for domestic use and for the ever-
expanding industries worldwide, the former National Food Authority (NFA) administrator said that in
the coming years, “we can expect more and more freshwater to be withdrawn for irrigation as world
food production rises to feed a ballooning population.”

In a recent press briefing, Baltazar H. Usis, administrator of the National Irrigation Administration
(NIA), said his office needs P10.5 billion to rehabilitate the existing national and communal irrigation
systems throughout the country.

For this year, he said, NIA needs to immediately rehabilitate irrigation facilities that will support the planting of hybrid rice on 213,213.112 hectares and 329,959 hectares for the ongoing dry season.

Sen. Edgardo Angara, former agriculture secretary, has urged the government to build more irrigation
ystems for rice production to achieve self-sufficiency.

According to him, only 1.4 million hectares of rice land in the Philippines are irrigated, while 1.3
million hectares are rain-fed or nearly half of the country’s rice fields still depend on the weather for
irrigation.