1. Role of Seed in
Transforming the
Agriculture in the
Philippines:
A Focus on Rice
Mercedita A. Sombilla
Karen P. Quilloy

2. Outline of the Presentation
I. Objectives
II. The Philippine seed system
III. Seed pricing policy and scheme
IV. Seed development, production and distribution
V. Seed adoption trends
VI. Issues and constraints
VII. Recommendations

3. Objectives of the study
 Describe the Philippine seed system and regulation;
 Describe the evolution of the rice seed varieties
and analyze the trend in seed adoption;
 Identify issues and constraints in the seed industry;
and
 Identify some key recommendations to overcome
issues in enhancing the supply of high-quality seeds

4. The Philippine Seed System: Governance
Mandate of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) of the
Department of Agriculture:
 Crop Production Division, Crop Research Division
 National Crop Research and Development Centers
National Seed Industry Council (NSIC)
National Seed Quality Control and Services (NSQCS)
Plant Quarantine Services (PQS) Office
Biotech Office
SeedNet, UPLB, PhilRice, BOI, and the
Private sector

5. The Philippine Seed System: Laws and Other
Regulations
Seed Industry Act of 1992 (RA 7308)
R&D an IPR
Republic Act (RA) 100055 known as Philippine
Technology Transfer Act of 2009
Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) support on
protection, patenting and licensing
AOs
pricing, production and marketing quality control

6. Rice Seed Pricing Policy and Scheme
 Prior to 2010
 50% of the price of seed is subsidized
 Cash incentives and discounts
 Guaranteed prices
 Plant Now-Pay Later scheme
 Mandated fixed price for publicly bred seeds
 Starting 2010: removal of seed subsidies

7. Seed Development Flow

8. Inbred Seed Production and Distribution System
Source: Adapted from PhilRice. 1996. The Philippine Rice Seed Industry and the National Rice Seed Production
Network. Rice Technology Bulletin No. 16. Nueva Ecija, Philippines.

9. Hybrid Seed Production and Distribution System

10. Number of released rice varieties by NSIC,
Philippines, 1968-2011
Rice
Ecosystem
Irrigated
Lowland
Irrigated
Lowland-
Hybrid
Irrigated
Lowland-
Glutinous
Irrigated
Lowland-
Saline prone
Rainfed
Lowlandb
Cool-
elevated Upland TOTAL
1966-1975 14 1 1 1 17
1976-1985 17 4 3 6 30
1986-1995 18 1 2 8 2 1 32
1996-2005 21 7 4 6 7 4 5 54
2006-2011 25 36 1 9 11 82
Total 95 44 10 17 30 6 13 215
a
Varieties approved for release by the National Seed Industry Council, previously the Philippine Seed Board
b
From 1985, releases for rainfed-lowland were specified for transplanted, direct-seeded, drought-prone or flood-prone;
Most are released for transplanted; 7 varieties were released for dry-seeded; 1 drought-prone; and 1 for flood-prone
ecosystem
Source: Table 1 of Launio and Manalili (2013)

11. Number of NSIC-approved rice seed varieties by
breeding agency, Philippines, 1990-2012
Source of basic data: National Seed Industry Council Seed Catalogue

12. Yield performance of various rice varieties
Source: Malasa et al. (2012)
3.37
3.95
4.57
3.55
4.57
5.13
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
low quality
seeds
high
quality
seeds
(inbred)
high
quality
seeds
(hybrid)
low quality
seeds
high
quality
seeds
(inbred)
high
quality
seeds
(hybrid)
2006 WS 2007 DS
Yield(t/ha)

13. Variables Irrigated Rainfed Upland
Season (1= dry season, 0=wet season) 38.2ns
9.4ns
241.2ns
Seed type
Hybrid seed (1=yes, 0=No) 875.5*** 1512.2*** 2526.7***
Certified seed (1=yes, 0=No) 335.8*** 432.8*** 493.2**
Good seed (1=yes, 0=No) - - -
Farmer’s seed (1=yes, 0=No) -273.2*** -139.6*** 139.9ns
Total quantity of seeds (kg) -1.3*** -1.6*** -1.7ns
Total quantity of solid inorganic fertilizer (kg) 1.8*** 1.7*** 1.5***
Total quantity of labor (manday) -0.4ns
0.3ns
0.3ns
Sex (1=male, 0=female) -136.5** 173.5** -325.5ns
Age 0.5ns
-0.8ns
-14.5*
Tenurial status (1=tenanted, 0 otherwise) -35.7ns
-46.6ns
-359.1**
Farming experience (years) -0.7ns
-1.3ns
12.5ns
Training (1=received training, 0 otherwise) -136.9** 23.0ns
-261.5ns
Extension (1=received extension service, 0 otherwise) 353.9*** 237.9ns
204.1ns
Credit access (1=avail credit, 0 otherwise) 218.8*** 383.0*** 261.0*
Effects Seed Quality and Other Factors on Yield

14. Adoption of the Modern Rice Varieties
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
-
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
Areaharvested(Mha)
PercentAreaHarvestedwithModernVarieties
Year
Irrigated (%MV)
Rainfed (%MV)
Upland (%MV)
Total area harvested
All ecosystems (%MV)
Note: Data is from BAS.
Source: Figure 2 of Launio and Manilili (2013)

15. Adoption of the Modern Rice Varieties
1992 1993 1996 1997 2001 2002 2006 2007
Total area n=2088 n=1731 n=2155 n=1840 n=1557 n=1291
MV1 na na 6 6 9 15 4 3
MV2 na na 21 21 17 11 2 2
MV3 na na 61 65 65 63 76 77
Hybrid Variety na na - - - - 7 8
High quality na na 10 10 19 20 30 29
Irrigated n=1337 n=1230 n=1368 n=1275 n=1060 n=1037
MV1 14 24 6 6 9 14 3 3
MV2 66 69 20 22 15 12 2 2
MV3 6 7 62 65 69 65 78 78
Hybrid Variety - - - - - - 8 9
High quality na na 12 12 20 23 34 31
Rainfed n=751 n=483 n=787 n=565 n=497 n=254
MV1 11 71 7 7 8 16 4 6
MV2 69 19 23 19 20 9 4 1
MV3 2 0 59 66 59 58 72 73
Hybrid Variety - - - - - - 5 6
High quality na na 6 7 16 12 23 19
Sources: For 1992/93, Review of PhilRice; 1996 to 2007 are drawn from Table 2.5, Bordey 2010; Varietal
groups fromEstudillo and Otsuka, 2002.
MV3: IR64-IR72 (IRRI), PSB Rc sereis (IRRI), PhilRice (mid-1980s to present), NSIC RC series (IRRI, PhilRice,
UPLB)
MV2: IR36-IR62 (IRRI, mid-1970s to mid-1980s),
Notes:
Hybrid Mestiso series (IRRI, PhilRice, Bayer Phil: 1998 to present, SL Agritech, HyRice Inc., Bioseed Inc)
MV1: IR5 to IR34 (IRRI), UPL and C series (UPLB, mid 1960s to mid-1970s), BPI Ri series (BPI)

16. Adoption of the Modern Rice Varieties
Farmers’ adoption of rice varieties by breeding agency, Philippines 2011-2012
(n=2,500 farmers)
2011 Wet Season 2012 Dry Season
1
Include UPLB
2
Include SL Agritech, Pioneer, Hyrice, Monsanto, Bioseed, Devgen, Bayer, and Syngenta
PhilRice,
29.1%
IRRI,
64.2%
Other
Public1,
2.4%
Traditional
0.5%
Other
Private2,
3.8%
PhilRice,
26.5%
IRRI,
61.0%
Other
Public1,
2.8%
Traditional
0.3%
Other
Private2,
9.5%
Source of basic data: Rice-Based Farming System Surveys of PhilRice ,as cited in Malasa et al. 2012

17. Adoption of the Modern Rice Varieties
Adoption of rice seed varieties, by seed class, Philippines, 1996-2007
Note: High quality seeds refer to inbred seeds (registered seeds and certified seeds) and hybrid seeds while low quality
seeds include good seeds and home-saved/farmers’ seeds.
Source: Malasa et al. 2012

18. Key Issues and ConstraintsKey Issues and Constraints

19. 1. Seed production and distribution issues
Major constraints in making new seed varieties of selected crops available in the market
Constraints Rice Yellow
Corn
White
Corn
Grain
Legumes
Root
Crops
Vegetables Tropical
Fruits
Coconut Sugar
cane
Insufficient availability of
disease-free planting material
X X X
Insufficient availability of
basic/foundation seed
X X X X
Insufficient availability of
commercial seed
X X X X X X X X X
Insufficient availability of
registered/certified seed
X X X
Inadequate seed production
systems
X X X X X
Inadequate seed distribution
systems
X X X X X X X X
Distance to seed supplier X X X X X X X
Varieties poorly adapted to
local conditions
X
Availability and cost of
required production inputs
X X X X X X X
Low farm gate price X X X X X X X X
Poor seed storage facilities X X X X X
Poor seed germinability X X
Note: Adapted from Sicat, S.R. et al. 2007. FAO/Government Cooperative Programme. Final Report on the Establishment of the
National Information Sharing Mechanism (NISM) on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the Conservation
and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in the Philippines.

20. Key Issues and Constraints
2. Adoption issues
 Unsustained adoption due to inconsistent yield
promise as affected by inadequate knowledge of
farmers on the seed requirements:
 Varietal and ecosystem mismatch
 Poor farm management practices
 Farmers’ reluctance to try or shift to new varieties
 Varietal and cropping system mismatch

21. Key Issues and Constraints
3. Cost and price issues
 A relatively higher cost of inputs and labor required
in production of hybrid rice, especially of publicly
bred varieties (in kg basis) compared to inbred rice
 Limited profit of publicly bred hybrid rice due to
less competitive mandated fixed price compared to
privately bred seeds

22. Key Issues and Constraints
Regulatory policy issues
Existence of informal seed production system (not
controlled by NSQCS and not covered by its certification
system)
Imbalance regulations applied on private and public
hybrids (private seeds are less regulated)
Weak laws on hybrid seed export and imports (i.e.,
seed importation of private seed companies)
Conflict in existing laws that govern the seed
industry, particularly hybrid rice seed industry

23. Recommendations
 Improve production and distribution
system
 Continue R&D on rice seed
improvement
 Information dissemination and
capacity building
 Review the policies on seed pricing

24. THANKTHANK
YOU!YOU!