Three main factors explain why the Philippines imports rice.
First, the land area. The Philippines has around 300,000 square kilometers, of which around 43,000 square kilometers of harvested area are used for rice production.
As most of the country is very mountainous and consists of many small islands, suitable land is limited to expand rice production without affecting wetlands, forests or areas producing other crops. Urban areas also continue to expand rapidly.
Second is the population growth. The population of the Philippines is estimated at 97 million.
Its annual population growth rate of around 2 percent – among the world’s highest – means that just to keep pace with growing demand the country would have to increase rice production and yield at rates rarely seen in history.
The third main factor is infrastructure. Irrigation infrastructure is not used and maintained as efficiently as it could be, thus reducing productivity potential. Transport infrastructure, particularly good-quality roads, is lacking, which affects the transport of rice and hinders the rice trade.
And yet, Filipinos are efficient rice farmers.Philippine rice yields are close to the world average and higher than in many other rice-producing countries in Asia, including Thailand and India.
Filipino rice farmers eagerly adopt new technologies and varieties that have resulted in a steady increase in rice yields over the last 50 years since the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) was established.
Between 1966 and 2009, 107 rice varieties attributed to IRRI were released in the Philippines, second only to Vietnam in the uptake of IRRI varieties.
These varieties and other IRRI technologies have on average helped Filipino farmers triple their rice yields over the last 50 years.
There is, however, still room for improvement when compared to the high rice yields of China and Vietnam.
IRRI is doing a whole host of research that is helping the Philippines increase its rice production.
In 2009, for example, three new varieties of IRRI-bred rice arrived in the Philippines – one variety is flood-tolerant, one is drought-tolerant, and one is salt-tolerant.
The salt-tolerant variety alone has the potential to increase rice production in the Philippines by 800,000 tons to 1 million tons per year if widely adopted on the 400,000 hectares of coastal rice-growing land in the Philippines affected by salinity from sea water.
Under high salt stress, high-yielding Philippine rice varieties typically produce less than a ton of rice per hectare. Under the same conditions, the new IRRI salt-tolerant variety can produce 2.5 tons to 3.5 tons of rice per hectare.
IRRI research that is helping Filipino farmers increase their rice yields also includes developing new high-yielding rice varieties with built-in resistance to pests, diseases and other stresses such as heat and drought.
It is also developing rice crop management strategies that improve nutrient-use efficiency to get the most value out of inputs and reduce wastage.
IRRI is developing climate change adaptation strategies and technologies and training the next generation of rice scientists and building the capacity of rice practitioners to ensure the sustainable development of the rice industry.
Worldwide, 457 IRRI rice breeding lines were released as 864 varieties in 78 countries. About 60 percent of the world’s rice is now planted to varieties developed from IRRI breeding material.
Today, the rice research institution based in Los Banos relies on national and local research and extension providers, such as the Philippine Rice Research Institute, to help develop and facilitate the adoption of technologies that suit farmers.
While it discusses with the Philippine government ways to increase rice production, improve the accessibility of affordable rice to poor rice consumers and reduce the national trade deficit in rice, IRRI does not advocate specific policy positions for the government.
This is because policy is developed in light of a wide range of inputs and must consider economic, social, political and environmental issues, some of which are beyond the scope of IRRI’s expertise. IRRI
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