Philippines to attain rice self-sufficiency on hybrid version

MANILA, May 15 (Commodity Online): World's largest rice importer, the Philippines is desperately looking for self sufficiency in rice production after country's production grew by nearly five per cent in the first quarter. According to Philippines's Agriculture ministry, the increase in production compared to the same period last year has buoyed hopes that the country could finally achieve rice self-sufficiency soon. The ministry described the expansion of the rice sector by 15.63 per cent to 4.03 million tonnes in the first quarter as unprecedented. It was the highest rice volume we have seen since Filipinos started planting rice, the ministry added. Agriculture's expansion, although lower than the target of 4.5 to 5.5 per cent, was a turnaround from last year's negative growth and was the fastest first-quarter growth since 2004, as rains boosted corn and rice production, the ministry said. Data from the department showed that palay or unmilled rice production was only 3.49 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2010 because of drought. The palay sector's performance for the first three months this year was a step toward rice self-sufficiency by 2013, a key midterm goal of the administration of President Benigno Aquino III. Philippine National Rice Program said earlier that hybrid rice seeds yield 15 per cent more than the 4 to 5 tonnes per hectare produced by certified seeds. The government has set a goal of expanding hybrid rice coverage to 500,000-700,000 hectares by 2013 from the current coverage of 375,000 hectares.