DA eyes hybrid rice seeds in BARMM, more regions to boost rice production

The Department of Agriculture (DA) aims to plant hybrid seeds in the Visayas and southern parts of the country as it eyes to boost yields and reach rice self-sufficiency, an official said Thursday.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa said they also want to plant hybrid seeds in the Bang- samoro, Western and East Visayas, and Davao regions aside from the usual areas they plant these varieties.

At present, he said their existing areas for hybrid seeds are located in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and Central Luzon.

“Tututukan natin na masigurado na iyong minimum na 1.5 million hectares sa dry season kasi overall ang ating harvested area ay mahigit sa 4 na milyong ektarya sa buong bansa, so iyong ani natin sa hybrid about 8 to 10 metric tons per hectare; ang inbred naglalaro iyan mga 5 to 6 metric tons per hectare,” De Mesa said in a public briefing.

Farmers who used hybrid rice harvested around 7 to 15 metric tons (MT) per hectare as compared to the average of 3.6 MT per hectare for non-hybrid seeds, Malacañang earlier said, citing a study.

This was why President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. backed the use of hybrid seeds to bolster rice yields, as a study showed that farmers’ harvests on these were better than those of conventional seeds.