TO achieve its rice self-sufficiency target in 2013, the government should prioritize investments in high-yielding seeds and irrigation, said the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in a paper published on its web site.

The paper, titled “What are the sources of decade yield growth in Philippine rice farming?,” pointed out that the use of high-quality seeds and irrigation would have contributed to yield growth in the past 10 years.

“The use of certified seeds and irrigation showed clear impact on the income and productivity of Filipino farmers,” the paper said.

It noted that in the past 10 years, there was a 70-percent increase in the area planted to certified seeds. This means that more farmers enjoyed the 5-percent to 10-percent yield advantage of certified seeds over farmers’ seeds.

The authors explained that the government’s Ginintuang Masagang Ani rice program had contributed to the increase in farmers’ access to high-quality seeds.

The paper also stressed that the expansion of irrigated areas is one key to improving farm production.

“For the last decade, more than 145,000 irrigation systems were constructed and rehabilitated. Also, private irrigation systems grew to 174,000 hectares,” it noted.

The increase in functional irrigation systems, the paper said, was made possible by the threefold increase in the government’s investments in irrigation. From P3 billion in 1998, the National Irrigation Administration placed as much as P9 billion for the rehabilitation and repair of irrigation systems in 2007.

This year and next, the government is looking to spend as much as P20 billion for the repair and rehabilitation of irrigation systems.

Alice Mataia of PhilRice, together with Nelissa Jamora and Piedad Moya of the International Rice Research Institute, and David Dawe of the Food and Agriculture Organization, authored the paper.

The paper bagged the Best Paper Award in the Federation of Crop Sciences Societies of the Philippines’ Annual Scientific Conference held in Silliman University last month.

Meanwhile, PhilRice is exploring the possibility of a tie-up with shipping companies for the movement of products purchased through its new electronic commerce (e-commerce) site.

Ronan Zagado, director of the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture (OPAPA) under PhilRice, said the agency is exploring ways to reduce the cost of products sold through its online store, Palay Tindahan, which was recently unveiled.

“We’re now pilot-testing the online store. We’re looking at tie-ups with shipping companies to reduce the cost of the products sold online,” said Zagado at the sidelines of the K-Agrinet Good Practices Conference held recently in Manila.

Initially, the online store (www.store.philrice.gov.ph) will carry palay seeds and books related to palay-growing.

“Eventually, we’re looking at offering other farm goods and items,” he said.

Zagado said PhilRice is launching a campaign to let farmers know how they can use PhilRice’s Palay Tindahan.

The plan, he said, is to make sure the Internet mobile bus and a combination of other technologies such as radio and SMS would make it easier for farmers to order goods from PhilRice.

OPAPA is a component of K-AgriNet, which focuses on e-Extension and distance learning to increase the capacity of agricultural extension workers who are now devolved with the local government.