SL Agritech Corp. (SLAC), the Philippines' largest hybrid rice seed producer, has registered an impressive yield of 10.6 metric tons (MT) of rice per hectare during the last dry season, a yield rate that has been inducing optimism that the Philippines can achieve rice sufficiency as planned.

Henry Lim Bon Liong, SLAC president, reported that the company's top farmer-co-operators who planted its SL-8 Hybrid variety have achieved an actual yield rate of not less than eight MT per hectare.

The rate is two times higher than average yield of three MT per hectare from inbred varieties yielding around three MT per hectare and two to three MT more than five to six per hectare yield from certified seeds.

Lim said among the highest yield attained in planting its hybrid variety are 10.6 MT per hectare, planted by farmer Ernesto Pablo in Rizal, Occidental Mindanao; 8.8 MT per hectare, Norma Lozada in Hogonoy, Davao del Sur; 8.8 MT per hectare, Guerrero Canoy in Pili, Camarines Sur; 8.6 MT per hectare, Agustin Palapala in Bantay, Ilocos Sur; 8.4 per hectare, Vernardo Sanchez in Calapan, Pilipino Captulo in Gerona, Tarlac; and Benigno Ramos, 8.2 MT per hectare in Pila, Laguna.

The Philippines has been targeting to become rice sufficient at the end of a three crop year period under which commercial hybrid rice was programmed to be planted over 130,000 hectares on the first crop year, 200,000 hectares on the second year, and 300,000 hectares on the third year ending in the dry season of 2005.

Compared to open pollinated varieties, hybrid rice is expected to achieve a high rate because of the cross-pollination between two parents with high-yielding characteristics.

SLAC's hybrid rice variety itself has been promising a yield of seven MT per hectare for the wet season and eight to nine MT per hectare for the dry season.

SLAC has been able to determine the highest yields in its rice variety through the technology demonstration farms in 34 identified hybrid producing provinces that it set up together with the Department of Agriculture (DA0 in order to demonstrate to farmers all over the country the correct practices in planting hybrid rice.

DA records showed that for the dry season of 2003, SLAC harvested the largest hybrid rice seed (Mestizo variety) totaling to 283,480 kilos over a total of 278.5 the country are Monsanto Philippines, Inc. (Magilas variety) which harvested during the same dry season 203 a total of 63,000 kilos over 103 hectares and Bayer Crops Science which harvested 6,200 kilos (Tisoy) over 3.6 hectares.