Prospects of growing hybrid rice is shown to the farmers southwest of Manila in a 35.8-ha demonstration farm at Brgy. Malad, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. Launched during the 9th National Rice Technology Forum (NRTF), Aug. 8, the demo farm features  Mestiso 20 (M20), one of the 25 hybrid rice varieties, and three inbred varieties –NSIC Rc  216, Rc 506, and Rc 222. Recher Ondap, president of the Rice Board, said through […]

Dr. William Dollente Dar, acting secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA), bares “new thinking” as strategy to achieve four-fold agriculture growth and double farmers’ income. In his acceptance speech early this week, Dar, who have served as the DA secretary from 1998 to 1999, noted that Philippine agriculture, for the past decade, only grew 1.1% annually, while population has been increasing at 1.8% yearly. “We are faced with the […]