Department of Agriculture set to allow farmers to choose rice seeds

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has moved a step closer to changing the process of procuring rice seed varieties to allow local farmers to choose what plant will produce the best yield.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said he had sought the approval of President Duterte to change the process of procuring inbred and hybrid rice seeds for local farmers.

“The President responded by directing us to let the farmers indicate their preference in a manifesto so that the agency will have the basis in skirting the usual procurement process,” Pinol said.

The existing government policy on procurement is accepted to be “lowest bidder wins” and is based on the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2003.

As an initial response, farmers from Central Luzon, where a huge percentage of harvest comes from, passed a resolution approving the DA’s proposal.

The DA is now awaiting approval from other regions in the country on exempting the rice seeds procurement from the usual bidding process.

“The move was aimed at correcting a fundamental flaw in the rice seeds procurement system which has resulted in the waste of government funds and low productivity,” Pinol said.

“The long and tedious government procurement process has also taken its toll on the rice seeds procurement program because by the time the seeds are delivered to the farmers, they have either finished planting or the seeds have become stale with very low germination rate,” he added.

The DA emphasized that local farmers prefer to be more liberal in choosing what type they will plant because they have seen its effects in various specific areas.

“In the past, Central Luzon farmers who have expressed preference for a certain variety of hybrid seeds refused to accept the hybrid seeds from a company which won the bidding because it was the lowest bidder,” Pinol said.

“Farmers should be allowed to indicate the hybrid rice seeds that they prefer for their area,” he added.