Philippine hybrid rice program: a case for redesign and scaling down
2007
David, C.C., Philippine Inst. for Development Studies, NEDA sa Makati Bldg., 106 Amorsolo St., Legaspi Village, 1229 Makati City (Philippines)
Promotion of hybrid rice has been the central goal of the government's rice production program since 2001. Yet, farmer's adoption rate has remained low (about 5% of total rice area) despite concerted efforts and massive subsidies. Evidently, most rice farmers do not find the currently available hybrid rice varieties to be economically superior to inbred varieties. At farmers' level, their yield advantage has not compensated for the higher cost of seeds, labor, and other inputs usually required by hybrid varieties. Unlike inbred varieties which can be grown by farmers, hybrid varieties need to be purchased every cropping season. While some hybrid varieties may be suited to irrigated areas with developed market infrastructure, demand by farmers has not been sufficiently large and concentrated for private seed companies to be commercially viable. The highly subsidized approach of the program has been not just ineffective but costly in terms of wasting scarce budgetary resources, comprising the government's regulatory functions, promoting corruption and distorting farmer's choice of varieties. The government should remove the present system of subsidies on hybrid seeds and related agricultural inputs which are all private goods in nature. The public sector's role in hybrid rice should by now be limited to basic and strategic research on hybridization, conventional breeding, and research and extension in hybrid-related cultural and other management practices.
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