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

of highly productive technologies, the country's average production performance has barely risen
from the 1.0 t/ha level, the lowest in Asia. With these developments, maize supply is still
insufficient to meet the domestic demands for food, feeds, and other industrial needs.
II. Hybrid maize research
Background information.
The introduction of hybrid maize into Philippine agriculture is fairly recent. Although
maize varietal improvement began with the founding of UPCA in 1909, initial work on hybrid
development was initiated in 1945. Emphasis was on the production and testing of crosses between
local varieties; subsequently, in 1949 extraction of inbred lines began. The first double-cross
hybrids were developed and released in the early 60's. Slow progress in hybrid maize development
was caused by the failure to achieve maximum expression of hybrid vigor due to the use of
provincial strains which were generally related to each other.
Table 3. Maize area and production in the province of Isabela (northern Philippines) 1990-1992.
1990 1991 1992
Seed class Area Production Area Production Area
(ha) (t/ha) (ha) (t/ha) (ha)
Hybrid Yellow 41392 4.27 73020 3.18 63040
OPV Yellow 18939 2.23 5308 2.98 6025
OPV White 1723 1.05 2876 2.19 3634
% Hybrid over OPV 66.7 89.9 86.7
Note:
Areas planted to traditional varieties were not inclUded.
3900
A,.. h.'.....d
(000 h.)
3700
3600
3300
3100
0.1
1980 1982 1984 1988 1988 1990 1992
Fig. 1. Total corn area harvested in Philippines. 1980-1992.
96