Hybrid rice, varieties bred by crossing two rice plants with superior qualities to survive environment stresses during the wet season, is the rice of the future, said a researcher based in the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) said.
“In the next two to three years, a new generation of hybrid rice will revolutionize the landscape of rice fields with the use of new tools in breeding and adaptability tests conducted across the country,” Dr. Alex T. Rigor, PhilRice’s hybrid rice breeding team leader, said during the recent field day conducted at Barangay Catuguing, San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte.
Rigor said that the types of hybrid rice being developed have thicker and stronger culm, better root system, moderate resistance to prevailing pests and diseases, and more dense panicles.
These traits, he said, increase the hybrids’ yield potential in the wet season when the varieties are known to be susceptible to pests and diseases.
The PhilRice’s Developing Technologies to Surpass the Dry Season Irrigated Lowland Rice Plateau also reported that Mestiso 19 and Mestiso 20, hybrid rice varieties released in 2009, had recently registered a yield of 12 tons per hectare (t/ha) in Bohol and 11. 5 t/ha in Davao del Sur, respectively.
