The Agriculture secretary hit it right on the mark when he admitted that the current food production shortfalls can be traced back to decades of government neglect of agriculture. Instead of ensuring that the farmers had access to good seeds, water, drying and storage facilities as well as a road network that would enable them to sell their produce to consumers, government basically left the farmers to fend for themselves.

But all is not lost. Government could begin investing and channeling resources to the provision of good seeds, irrigation facilities and other incentives that would encourage and enable the rice farmers to produce more food. The P43.5 billion for rice production that has been declared for release by the President is no small change to a sector that has been perennially starved of funds; but it has to be channeled correctly.

Over reliance on Hybrid Rice

Currently, the bulk of resources for grains production goes to hybrid rice production, which is the government's centerpiece intervention in rice production. This is contrary to the position taken by the country's rice producers who have long rejected the Hybrid Rice Commercialization Program (HRCP) which began in 2001.

Hybrid rice's contribution to total rice production remains minimal at only 12 percent. In contrast, good seeds contribute 50 percent of production while certified seeds make up 38 percent. Thus, it should have been logical and fair for government to provide more funds to the sector that contributes the most. Spending billions on the expensive hybrid rice program wastes government resources with no significant impact.

While hybrid rice may have the potential to plug the supply deficit temporarily, the costs in the long run are simply too high. The country's seven-year experience with the HRCP shows that the program caused a serious drain on government resources and could only show dismal returns. Moreover, the damage to the environment that intensive use of chemical-based inputs for hybrid rice production is simply unacceptable.

The Arroyo administration's fixation with hybrid rice is based on the misguided belief that only hybrid rice can produce significant increases in production. This is completely false. In fact, even without expanding the area devoted to rice production, the Philippines can produce enough rice to feed its growing population.

The Triumph of Good and Certified Seeds

According to a study by SEARCA and PhilRICE, yields from good seeds and certified seeds can reach a maximum of 9 mt/ha and 10 mt/ha respectively. Using the latest rice hectarage of 4,272,000 hectares, we can assume that the country can produce as much as 38,448,000 million metric tons of palay or 29,904,000 metric tons of milled rice using only good seeds. This is even assuming that milling recovery is only 60 percent, which is the current national average.

With the use of certified seeds, rice production could go up to as high as 42,720,000 metric tons or about 25,632,000 metric tons of milled rice. This is more than enough to wipe out the annual production shortfalls and ensure rice self-sufficiency for our population.

Actual field experience with farmer developed varieties also show that yields of up to 7 mt/ha. are achievable using organic farming practices. This compares favorably to the less than 6 mt/ha. average yield for hybrid rice. Rice farmers who employed the system of rice intensification managed to produced yields reaching as high as 9 mt/ha. Moreover, the small rice farmers have been reporting milling recovery rates that ranges between 70 to 75 percent which is much higher than that registered by hybrid rice. What is even more notable is that the small rice farmers were able to achieve this level of production without government support. Strangely, government has not tapped the expertise of these organic rice farmers.

With the right mix of government support and re-channeling of resources to common-sense interventions like irrigation, post harvest facilities and research and development, more small rice farmers stand to produce more food on a less costly and more sustainable basis.

Providing Water and Doubling Production

Irrigation remains a crucial component of rice production and has been shown to contribute as much as 25 percent to production increases. Sadly irrigation development has been neglected for decades. A study by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed that compared to its neighbors in Southeast Asia, the Philippines exhibited no growth in irrigated lands. Myanmar and Lao PDR, the two poorest members of ASEAN managed 7.0 percent and 2.0 percent growth respectively. Under the Arroyo administration, there was even a decline in irrigation development with new areas covered by irrigation dropping from 28,148 ha. in 2002 to only 12,127 ha. in 2004. Areas rehabilitated by the  National Irrigation Administration (NIA) were almost halved from 269,665 in 2002 to 129,451 in 2004.

Irrigation data for 2006 shows that around 2.2 million hectares of the country's ricelands are irrigated while 1.4 million hectares are rainfed. As much as 90 percent of currently rainfed areas are irrigable. If government manages to construct irrigation facilities in these irrigable lands, the country stands to add as much as 1.26 million hectares to the country's irrigated lands, and potentially double current production yields.

Clearly, by simply providing farmers with good seeds, promoting organic rice farming and constructing additional irrigation facilities, government could set the country on the road to self-sufficiency in food production. Needless to say, government would do well to abandon or eschew its current policy track of putting undue reliance on hybrid rice or even entertaining rice imports as solutions to ensuring the availability of food. Instead, government should pursue the implementation of the Rice Master Plan that the small rice farmers have long been advocating. Perhaps, government should begin by convening the national rice stakeholder's consultation.