Bayer, the global leader in developing rice hybrids, participated in the
2016 Rice Technology Forum and Farmer Field Days in Iloilo. The largest annual
rice industry event hosted by the Rice Board and the Department of Agriculture gathered
over 2,500 farmers with the theme, “Boosting Rice Productivity in the Visayas
through Hybrid Rice.”
Hybrid
rice is a type of rice produced by crossbreeding different kinds of rice. Based
on reports, hybrid rice varieties have been reported
to increase yields by up to 33% versus inbred certified seeds.
Greater
production of rice means Filipino farmers are able to earn higher incomes, provide
greater supply of local rice in the market, which translates into more
affordable prices for consumers. With a population of over 100M, the
Philippines needs to increase its produce from the current average of 4.03 tons
per hectare of rice to meet the growing consumption demand.
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| Photo courtesy of Bayer |
“Western Visayas is one of the major rice
producers in the Philippines, next to Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley. Through
our public and private partnerships with organizations like the Rice Board, we
continue to look into ways to provide Filipino farmers with best practices and
technology to augment the Philippines’ food self-sufficiency, security, and
global competitiveness,” said Assistant Secretary Edilberto M. De Luna, National
Rice and Corn Programs Coordinator, of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
During the
forum, farmers cited limited water supply, weather volatility, and rice plant
diseases like Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB) as among their key challenges to
yield security and productivity.
“This year,
Bayer demonstrated the Arize Bigante Plus and HaBilis Plus, hybrids with
greater tolerance and protection against BLB.
These products are suitable for both wet and dry season planting. Farmers also learned about the importance of
using fungicides like Nativo to gain even higher yield and better grain
quality. The strong demand for our hybrid
rice offers show our close alignment with the country’s growing rice production
needs. It motivates us to leverage on science to develop technology to help
farmers live better lives and contribute to the Philippines’ food sufficiency
and security goals,” said Recher Ondap, Head of Seeds for the Crop Science
Division of Bayer, and also President of the Rice Board.
Bayer is a global enterprise
with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and
agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and
improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value
through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the
principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities
as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2015, the Group employed around 117,000
people and had sales of EUR 46.3 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR
2.6 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.3 billion. These figures include those
for the high-tech polymers business, which was floated on the stock market as
an independent company named Covestro on October 6, 2015.
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