DA must be free to pick which rice seeds to push for planting

CONGRESS is being asked to allow the Department of Agriculture to be free to choose what rice seeds to push for planting by rice farmers, instead of sticking to just inbred seeds as envisioned in the amendments to the Rice Tariffication Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

The tariffs collected on imported rice are lumped in RCEF, which in turn funds subsidized rice inputs given to farmers, credit facilities, farm mechanization and extension services.

DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. urged Congress to allow the DA to choose between inbred and hybrid seeds that will be procured using the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

Congress is now deliberating on the proposed RICE Act, which is yet another amendment to the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) that earmarks P6 billion for the distribution of inbred seeds.

“The DA’s position is that we shouldn’t be dictated on what type of rice seed we decide to procure through RCEF, because technology is different now,” he told reporters.

He said some hybrid seeds could withstand plenty of water, while certain inbred seeds also show good traits.

“Technically, inbred seeds should be planted during El Niño. If there are torrential downpours and no dry spell, it should be hybrid seeds,” he said. 

“What the funds should be used for is the purchase of the right seeds for the right climate at the right time.”

The DA chief also noted that such a provision under the law enables the agency to be “proactive.”

“It’s so fast now with AI (artificial intelligence). It’s plausible that inbred seeds would have the same characteristics as a hybrid after a while, or vice versa. So, we have to be flexible, especially in these changing times.”

He said the agency is veering away from production as its sole goal, as Filipinos are now more partial to high-quality rice from other countries. “The DA’s central focus is now eating quality and marketability.”

To accomplish this, he said the DA sought importers’ compliance to stop bringing in 5 percent broken rice starting this month, as it poses stiff competition to local palay. 

The move is meant to support farmgate prices of paddy rice, which tends to freefall during the main harvest season from September to October.

This would also provide local rice a fighting chance in the market, replete with its foreign counterpart, the DA chief said.

“If the price is the same, (consumers) will choose imported rice, so how can we (the Philippines) compete?”

Laurel directed the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to provide high-quality seeds to farmers, “since their yields are on par with imported rice, especially if they were processed right.”

He ordered PhilRice to propagate high-quality rice varieties in the hope that such seeds would account for 30 percent of the allocation to farmers in 2027.