Wellness and long life are included in the top 10 aspirations of farmers as shown by a 2022 study of the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute. However, the realization of these aspirations may be affected by chemical use, which is detrimental to health when utilized injudiciously.

A brief history of the rice improvement efforts in the Philippines emphasized the need of increasing rice productivity through new technologies and innovations in breeding. The rice landscape has significantly accelerated the rhythm of varietal improvement from the most primitive selection of naturally occurring variants using the traditional cultivars to hybridization process. Improving rice varieties at PhilRice has defined the breeding themes, techniques, strategies, and achievements as influenced by local […]

Amid challenging times, PhilRice soldiered on to meet the needs of its stakeholders, the rice farmers in particular. It was all systems go at PhilRice – innovations after innovations – the Institute invented and reinvented itself to ensure that the rice R4D is alive and relevant in the most trying times.

Climate change is among the biggest “wicked issues” in rice cultivation. From the literature, we know that wicked problems are difficult to solve owing to the extent of the interconnectedness of issues attached to them. With climate change, we know that water will be scarce for agriculture, if not already, given its competition with more urgent and important concerns such as for domestic purposes. We also know that the workforce […]