Proceedings of the Fifth Asian Regional Maize Workshop - Search ...

HYBRID MAIZE BREEDlt.G AN> ALH»DIIC PRDJCTla.I RESEARCH AN> DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES
E. R. Bautista and V. C. Perdido 11
Abstract
Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the important cereal crops in the Philippines whose origin
traces back to its introduction from Mexico during the 16th Century. Through the years, it was
traditionally grown by the farmers who adopted and adapted it, becoming the staple food of about
25% of the present population. It is also a major ingredient of animal feeds in the expanding
livestock industry. only a small amount of grain is used as seed and raw material for industrial
purposes.
In 1992, about 3.323 m ha were planted to maize with a total production of 4.56 m ton of
grain with a national average yield of 1.37 t/ha. Significant increase in productivity over the
last decade was attributed to the availability and use of appropriate production technologies
like high yielding maize seeds of improved open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) and hybrids, and the
increased fertilizer usage as a result of government's subsidized input program.
Hybrid maize research is a recent innovation in the Philippine agriculture. Early
attempts on hybrid development started at the Univ. of Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA)
at Los Banos in 1949. Thirty years later, this kind of research was resumed and developed into a
strong component of maize R&D in both public breeding institutions and in private seed
companies. Since 1977 about 40 hybrids have been released for commercial production. Most of
them are three-way crosses developed by private seed companies. The highest yield of hybrids
obtained by outstanding farmers reached 7.3 to 13 t/ha. With the availability of high production
technologies and the support of the government for agricultural development, maize production
targets for self sufficiency will hopefully be reached in the next five years.
I. Introduction
Present-day corn or maize in the Philippines o~iginated as an introduction from Mexico
through the famous Galleon Trade operated by the Spanish merchants in the 16th Century. Since
then, the crop called "mais" by the Fil ipinos, spread and was traditionally grown all over the
country until it became one of the major commodities with a distinct research and development (R
& D) mandate in the present national research network system in agriculture. This paper presents
an overview of hybrid maize breeding and agronomic production R&D in the Philippines.
Importance of maize
Through the years, maize has always been second to rice in grain utilization and in land
usage. It is the staple food of almost 25% of the population, but the number may even reach up
to 70% in major maize growing areas. It is the major feed ingredient contributing 20-50% of hog
rations and 50-75% of the rations for poultry feed. A meager volume is used as seed and supplies
the raw materials to sustain industries in the manufacture of maize byproducts.
Maize production trends
The area planted to maize varies with every cropping year as presented in Table 1 and
Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Distribution of corn areas in the country is shown in Table 2. Also in the
last ten years the national average yield per hectare has increased from 1.0 to 1.37 t/ha. In a
span of ten years, the area planted to maize slightly declined from 3.383 m ha in 1982 to 3.323 m
ha in 1992. Partly, such growth in yield was attributed to the use of recommended production
1/ Maize Breeders, Univ. of Southern Mindanao and Dept. of Agriculture, respectively.
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