Washington, Feb 20 (Inditop.com) Over the past 50 years, the Philippines has more than tripled its rice yield while the world average rice yield has increased only about 2.3 times.
Despite being criticised as a poor rice producer because of its status as the world’s biggest rice importer, the Philippines has done remarkably well in raising its rice yields, from 1.16 tonnes per hectare in 1960 to 3.59 tonnes per hectare in 2009.
In 2009, Philippine rice yields were actually lower than the previous two years due to the damage done by the tropical storms “Ondoy” and “Pepeng”.
In 2007, average rice yields topped 3.8 tonnes per hectare and in 2008 they were 3.77 tonnes per hectare.
Rice yields in the Philippines are also higher than those in Thailand, the world’s biggest exporter of rice, where yields over the last few years have been around three tonnes per hectare.
“The Philippines has enthusiastically taken up rice science technologies that have helped farmers dramatically increase their yields,” said William Padolina, deputy director general for operations at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
“Filipino farmers have adopted more than 75 IRRI-bred high-yielding rice varieties since 1960 and have greatly improved their fertilizer and pest management strategies, and are implementing water-saving technologies,” he added.
IRRI was established in the Philippines in 1960 following a hunt throughout Asia as the most advantageous location for an agricultural research programme to expand food production in Asia, said an IRRI release.
