As the Philippine population continues to grow, updated rice research and development are critical to rice self-sufficiency, according to a former Department of Agriculture official.
Former Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor said that despite being an agricultural country with roughly 13 million hectares of arable land, the country is finding it difficult to feed its population of over 110 million.
Around 3.5 million hectares are dedicated to planting palay alone, Montemayor, now the chairman of the board of the Federation of Free Farmers, said.
"R&D (research and development) is very critical because our population is indeed getting bigger against the diminishing land planted to rice because of land conversions and so on," he said.
Montemayor discussed what ails Philippine agriculture in an interview on Straight Talk, Daily Tribune's digital show on 30 August.
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"What is needed now is to come up with better varieties of rice that will produce more with much fewer inputs over the same rice area. That's the work of R&D," he said.
Research is also needed to mitigate the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, the extended dry season expected to hit the country in the coming months, and afterward La Niña, its opposite phenomenon.
"The new varieties of rice should grow with less water, or rice varieties that can withstand severe flooding during La Niña. This R&D work is not done overnight and requires proper funding from the government," Montemayor pointed out.
Coming up with an El Niño resilient variety of rice, according to Montemayor, would take at least five years.
Another problem, he said, is the continuity of programs and policies, as these constantly change when a new administration is elected.
Earlier, the International Rice Research Institute said the construction of a speed breed facility that will accelerate the palay growing period is underway and will be completed by March 2024.
IRRI said developing a new variety using only conventional methods takes nine years, while new rice varieties can be completed in two to four years.
