Development and dissemination of hybrid rice technology in national rice programs

Hybrid rice is being developed and disseminated in at least nine Asian countries outside China-Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. These countries recognize the use of hybrid rice technology in commertial rice production as a practical approach for increasing productivity and profitability of rice farming, generating rural employment, and attaining rice self-sufficiency and food security. Thus the governments of of these countries have integrated hybrid rice technology generation and promotion into their national rice programs (NRPs). Assistance for specific activities such as hybrid rice breeding, seed production, integrated crop management technology generation and packaging, capacity building, policy advocacy, and information/technical exchange have been provided by Food Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Rice Research Institute (IRR), Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asia Pacific Seed Association, and China. Major progress has been made in the commercialization of hybrid rice in India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Indonesia, resulting in 1.4 milliion ha being under hybrid rice cultivation by 2004, 1.39 million t additional rice produced worth US$167 million, and higher profits for both farmers and seed producers obtain at the farm level. In some countries, spillover technical effects such as use of lower seedling rates and higher technical precision in rice farming activities, as well as socioeconomic effect such as job generation, organizational/cooperative development, and stimulation of local economies were observed. Hybrid rice technology, with the business and intellectual property protection oppurtunities it offers, has also encourage, for the first time in many of these countries, the private sector to invest heavily in and share in alleviating the erstwhile purely governments burden of modernizing the NRPs. To date, about a hundred local and multinational companies, including cooperatives, are engaged in hybrid rice-based business activities, with some promoting integrated seed-to-shelf rice production and post-production systems and modalities. Despite the steady progress, a number of research and development-related issues still need to be addressed across these countries, (1) insufficient research on seed production, (2) inadequate number of technical and extension personnel, (3) weak institutional linkages among public, private, and NGO sectors, (4) high cost of hybrid seed production, (5) inadequate grain quality, (6) low and inconsistent seed yields, (7) susceptability to pests and diseases, (8) narrrow germplasm base (9) further improvement in extent of heterosis, and (10) inadequate socioeconomic and policy research. Iternational institutions such as IRRI, FAO, UNDP may be able to assist NRPs through actvities and programs fostering (1) germplasm exchange, (2) training,(3) international collaboration, (4) consultancy services, (5) coordinated international germplasm evaluation, (6) information sharing and exchange, (7) international meetings, and (8) policy formulation and regional harmonization. The governments of these countries, on the other hand, should manifest strong support to public-and-private sector efforts on hybrid rice, through appropriate policy frameworks, strengthening of human resources, adequate financial support and facilities, and establishment of programs promoting synergistic among public, private, and civil society sectors.