Rice Breeding Strategies in the Philippines

Rice is a major staple in the Philippines. The major goal of the rice sector in the country is to increase its productivity to meet the ever growing demand for rice. Breeding is one of the potential solutions to achieve rice self-sufficiency in the country. Rice variety development is led by research institutions such as PhilRice, IRRI, UPLB, and private companies and each adapts various breeding strategies. Rice variety normally takes 10-12 years of a journey from breeding to release and more than 300 varieties have been developed and released that were suited for various rice ecosystems. Sufficient varieties were available for production and this led to continuous in rice production for the past decade. However, yield increment has plateaued. To meet the increasing demand for rice, achieve self-sufficiency, and particularly, break the yield barrier (plateau) and achieve a leap in yield potential, breeding institutions particularly PhilRice should embrace new advances and technologies in rice breeding. The introduction of the concept of transforming breeding into a “factory line” type encouraging rapid generation advance, earlier multi-location trials, and increasing selection pressure, and employing genomic selection (GS) in handling a large quantity of materials/populations can improve breeding efficiency and outputs significantly

Water governance and food security of the irrigators association in Bago City, Negros Occidental, Philippines

Humans and all living organisms rely on water for survival. However, this dependence on water resources coupled with population increase, economic development, and accumulated disaster risk could lead to global water scarcity. With the pressing need to develop water governance roadmaps, this study presents relevant information for developing a plan for water usage, conservation, and recycling. Using a researcher-made survey instrument, a total of 124 residents from barangays Mailum and Taloc in Bago City, Negros Occidental, Philippines served as respondents. Results found that most of the respondents were aware of the Irrigation Association's (IA) policies on water governance and that they were appropriately designed and beneficial to their needs. Although water is available on their farm for irrigation, there were times when they experience water shortage, especially during the dry season. Moreover, even though irrigation water is properly used in the locality, water wastage and usage for other purposes were observed. In terms of irrigation for rice farming, availability ranged from always (49.2%) to sometimes (47.6%) and due to the lack of other bodies of water in their area, the majority claimed that they have no other sources of water aside from the irrigation system. The majority of the respondents also claimed that their rice production is sufficient for the rice needs of their family and their income is enough to cover their family's food expenditure. Lastly, four variables were found to have significantly contributed to the total rice production. These variables are (1) availability of water at all times, (2) equal allocation of water irrigation by the IA, (3) the power delegations of the IA to the members on the governance of irrigation water, and (4) the period when irrigation water was not distributed in the rice farm