FARMERS involved in the field testing of flood-tolerant rice, dubbed as PSB Rc18-Sub1, reported that the variant withstood the 14-hour flash flood brought about by recent Typhoon Quiel in Victoria, Tarlac.

The variant did not turn brownish and was spared from pests and stunted growth after being submerged in 1.5-meter deep water, farmer Edwin de Jesus reported. PSB Rc18-Sub1 also withstood the four-day flood caused by Typhoon Juaning last year.

De Jesus also reported that submergence did not affect the grain’s density usually experienced by farmers’ popular varieties.

PSB Rc18, a variety for irrigated lowland with an average yield of 5 tons per hectare (t/ha), is infused with submergence tolerance gene or Sub 1 for the improved variety to survive, grow and develop after 14 days of complete water submergence at vegetative stage.

Rice-line testing is being conducted by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA) that focuses on rice science and development.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the University of California in Davis discovered the Sub1 gene from an Indian rice variety FR13A.

Almost 1 million metric tons (MMT) of palay were damaged by six typhoons that wreaked havoc on the Philippines from June to October, according to documents from the DA.

In milled terms, rice lost to typhoons Egay, Falcon, Juaning, Mina, Pedring, and Quiel reached 586,544 MT. The damage caused by the six typhoons alone slashed 9.13 percent of the total projected palay output of 9.88 MMT for July to December. 

The biggest damage was caused by typhoons Pedring and Quiel at 760,207 MT palay, or an equivalent of 494,135 MT of milled rice. The two typhoons reduced paddy rice output for the second semester by 7.69 percent.

The government is banking on the increasing use of flood-tolerant and drought-tolerant rice to help farmers cope with the ill-effects of climate change.

IRRI, PhilRice and the local government of Victoria, Tarlac, are implementing a project that seeks to identify, adapt and validate improved rice technologies suited in some of the town’s drought-prone areas. 

To be implemented until 2014, the project, titled Improving Livelihoods and Overcoming Poverty in Drought-Prone Lowlands of South and Southeast Asia, also covers Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos and Nepal.