Hybrid palay seeds post higher yields than improved inbred and traditional varieties
Farmers using hybrid seeds posted far higher yields anew than those who planted inbred certified seeds during the summer crop, according to the head of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Dr. Frisco Malabanan said that in Nueva Ecija, for instance, farmers were again overwhelmed by the benefits that they have been reaping from their hybrid palay farms.
Malabanan said that more than 55,000 hectares (ha) of palay fields were planted to hybrid rice in 2010 in the dry crop, with farmers harvesting an average of 7.73 metric tons (MT) per hectare.
This per-hectare yield average is higher than the 5.7-ton average of farmers who planted inbred rice certified seeds in some 93,000 ha., he said.
“The yield from hybrid rice is much higher than their usual output of 4-5 mt/ha using inbred rice varieties,” Malabanan said in a report to Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla.
This translates, he said, into a profit increase to at least P30,000 per hectare from only P15,000 in the past.
“Hybrid rice achieves greater yields and thus farmers earn more without increasing their cultivation area,” Malabanan said.
He explained that “hybrid rice takes advantage of the phenomenon of hybrid vigor to achieve yields 15%–30% higher than nonhybrid (inbred) varieties.”
“Over the past three decades, the technology has helped
A hybrid rice variety, also referred to as F1, is the first generation product of crossing two rice plants with superior qualities, he said.
Two kinds of varieties are sown and grown side by side and pollination is done by natural and artificial means, he added.
He added that these superior qualities of both parents are passed on to the seed and results in ‘hybrid vigor’ or heterosis.
“This clearly means that the hybrid rice variety that farmers now use to get more yield and income is not a GMO or genetically modified organism,” Malabanan said.
He pointed out that the hybrids (F1) produce more grains per panicle than most inbred rice varieties.
These factors result to higher yields than ordinary rice, also known as inbreds, he said.
“When planted, the hybrid rice commercial cultivation procedure is basically the same as inbred rice varieties,” Malabanan said.
Reproduction is also through self-pollination and the harvest (palay) looks the same as those of inbreds, he said.
But such hybrid seeds cannot be used for replanting, he said, because hybrid vigor is lost resulting in yield reduction, and non-uniform crop stand and maturity.
Malabanan said that although it requires greater attention in seed and seedling management, hybrid rice is grown much like inbred varieties.
Since 2001, the DA’s GMA Rice Program has been pushing the use of high-yielding rice varieties like hybrid seeds, which can enable farmers to harvest as high as 12 MT per hectare.
“Hybrid rice may be thought of as a low-adoption technology among farmers because it is a season- and location-specific technology that need further information campaigns,” he said.
In the early years of the program, there were limited numbers of hybrid rice varieties that farmers could choose from, Malabanan said.
“But nowadays, more private companies engage in hybrid rice research and development (R&D), and the seed business,” he said, “so there are many varieties available in the market that are suitable to every farmer’s needs.” (DA-Press Office)
