Tuesday, September 23, 2008 DA 7 urges LGUs to produce more hybrid seeds for farmers
ONLY about 12 percent of the estimated 2,000 hectares of farmlands in Cebu was planted with hybrid seeds, according to a Department of Agriculture (DA) 7 official.
The primary reason is not the lack of interest by farmers on hybrid rice planting but on the lack of hybrid rice seeds available.
DA 7 Crops Sector Officer-in-Charge Jorge Paculba said that despite the high cost of the seeds, farmers still opt to plant hybrid seeds because it would mean a 15-percent increase in yield in just a short time.
He recalled that when the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program was launched in 2000, hybrid rice planting was also introduced to farmers to boost palay yield and increase their incomes.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap earlier said that hybrid seeds yield up to seven metric tons per hectare per cropping. Certified seeds only generate a harvest of 4.5 metric tons per hectare.
Prices
Farmers with patches of land in Asturias, Balamban, Toledo City, Talisay City, Minglanilla, Carcar City, Argao and Balamban have so far availed themselves of 240 bags of hybrid rice seeds through the DA or through their local governments units.
A bag of regular or inbred rice certified seeds cost a minimum of P880 while a bag of hybrid seeds cost a minimum of P2,400.
With subsidies from the government, farmers can avail themselves of the certified seeds by paying only P440. For hybrid seeds, they only need to shell out P1,400.
Stocks
But they have to compete against each other to avail themselves of the hybrid seeds variety because of limited stocks.
Paculba said that there are only very few agribusiness companies and government-supported groups in the country, like Monsanto Philippines Inc. and Davao Oriental Seed Producers Cooperative, that generate these seeds due to the high cost of production. He said it would take P40,000 to P50,000 to produce such seeds for a hectare of land.
This prompted the DA to encourage each town and city to invest on producing their own hybrid seeds.
In 2007, a total area of 5,085 hectares of land in Central Visayas was targeted for hybrid seeds planting but only 3,208 hectares were planted.
This year, even when the DA 7 is projecting a decrease in land area available for farming due to industrial development, the agency is targeting to increase rice production by 7.16 percent with intensive promotion of hybrid seed- and certified seed-planting. (NRC)
