Drought, flood-resistant rice varieties available

FARMERS are to be given access to three new varieties of rice that should help the Philippines slash imports and produce more at home, a research group said yesterday.

The International Rice Research Institute developed three varieties of rice grain, one of which can withstand floods, another can survive drought, and a third has a high salt tolerance.

The Philippines, a nation of 90 million people and the world’s biggest rice buyer, was forced to ramp up imports and even ration handouts to its poorest neighborhoods last year as prices spiked at near-30-year highs.

“In the Philippines about 400,000 hectares of rice-growing land is affected by salinity, and in any year up to 370,000 hectares can be flood-affected,” said David Mackill, leader of the team that developed the three varieties.

“Both these conditions can completely destroy a rice crop or decrease yield,” he said in a statement.

“Yield is also reduced by drought that occurs in upland and rain-fed areas where rice is not irrigated. Having rice varieties that can cope with difficult growing conditions such as flood, drought and salinity will be particularly helpful for poor farmers who rely on marginal land to grow their rice.”

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates Filipinos eat an average of more than 100 kilograms of rice each a year.

With the population increasing, demand for the staple continues to grow. AFP