Bayer, a global expert in life sciences, plans to expand next year the local use of direct-seeded rice, or DSR, cultivation method, which is a technology derived from India.

The process saves water and is considered more profitable than traditional farming.

At the Sixth International Rice Congress on Monday in Pasay City, the firm said DSR use on small-scale farms in India has resulted in 40 percent less water consumption and 45 percent less greenhouse gas emissions.

Currently, 11 percent of India's rice fields use DSR. Bayer plans to spread this cultivation method to 1 million hectares by 2030 and to 75 percent of the total rice fields in India by 2040 under the firm's DirectAcres Program.

"Our direct-seeded rice system will help smallholder rice farmers adapt to and mitigate climate change while running profitable businesses, improving their own and community's social well-being," Bayer's head of breeding Mike Graham said.

For the Philippines, Bayer said its team and Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute have started conducting DSR feasibility studies, looking into how Filipino farmers can adopt this cultivation method starting next year.

Successful trial

"But our goal is not to chase a number. Filipinos need to first have a successful trial. That's what we want to do in the Philippines," Amit Trikha, from Bayer's crop strategy for rice and oilseeds, said.

"We're not talking just about inputs. We're talking about the end-to-end system, including machinery and economy," he continued.

Unlike traditional cultivation, DSR does not require standing water which produces the greenhouse gas methane, nurseries, and transplanting to grow rice.

Bayer said rice production costs are further reduced in the long term as the DSR method reduces manual labor by 50 and replaces it with drones to distribute the seeds and analyze soil health, for example.

In terms of profitability,  Bayer said 99 percent of Indian farmers using the DSR method under the firm's DirectAcres Program gained a 75 percent return on investment.

"No more heavy plowing, but 16 percent to 25 percent savings in cultivation," Trikha said.

Moving forward, Bayer hoped Filipino farmers would be upskilled to produce rice sustainably amid the aging population of farmers globally.

The firm said this means global rice production must grow 25 percent over the next two decades to feed 10 billion more people worldwide by 2050.