Investment in the hybrid rice commercialization program has benefited the Philippine government through savings of US $23.23 M that would have been spent for rice importation. A study of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) showed that government investments on hybrid rice commercialization incurred financial and economic benefit-cost ratios of 1.56 and 1.13, respectively.

A research team led by Flordeliza H. Bordey found out that hybrid rice production:

• is one of the best options to increase farm productivity and income among the technologies available today. On-farm data show that it can increase yield by 8 to 14 percent, as more hybrid rice farmers harvest 5 tons a hectare (t/ha) and above than inbred rice farmers.
• is generally superior over inbred rice in terms of yield but performance is affected by location.
• has a price advantage of around 25 centavos per kilogram over inbred rice, indicating a good market acceptability of milled hybrid rice due to its good eating quality. 
• entails higher production cost due to higher seed, fertilizer, pesticide and labor costs but the difference in production cost decreases as hybrid farmers become more familiar with the technology.

For more information, visit http://www.philrice.gov.ph or email webteam@philrice.gov.ph.

Source: CropBiotech Update