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Status of Public Rice Biotechnology R&D and Commercialization in the Philippines
The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice)
PhilRice, a government corporation attached to the Department of Agriculture (DA), is the
national agency for R&D, with a mandate to lead, unify, and strengthen the manpower capabilities
and improve the facilities of agencies involved in the national rice R&D program and to
serve as a vital force in attaining and sustaining the country’s goal of self-sufficiency in rice and
in promoting greater access by farmers to agricultural technology (PhilRice, 1995).
PhilRice coordinates the R&D activities of more than 60 public agencies through its
national rice R&D network, which includes experiment stations of the DA and state colleges and
universities strategically located in rice-producing areas in the country. Figure 1 presents the
map of the rice R&D network.
R&D Programs
PhilRice has implemented eight new programs: Transplanted Irrigated Lowland Rice,
Direct-Seeded Irrigated Lowland Rice,) Hybrid Rice, Rice for Adverse Environments, Rice-
Based Farming Systems, Rice and Rice-Based Products, Policy Research and Advocacy, and
Technology Promotion and Development.
Manpower
Since 1987, PhilRice has pursued a manpower development program to boost rice R&D,
with a focus on expertise in agricultural biotechnology and related fields. This manpower buildup
is funded by the Philippine government, the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) for Ph.D.s in biotechnology,
the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA), and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). To date, 32 PhilRice and R&D
network staff members have earned their Ph.D.s, and 75 others have earned their M.S./M.A
degrees. In addition, 11 Ph.D. and 17 M.S./M.A. candidates will complete their studies soon. All
in all, there are about 2,000 personnel involved in rice R&D, excluding those of IRRI.
Laboratories and Facilities
The main laboratory facilities of the Institute were provided by the Japanese government
through JICA in 1991. The facilities include research laboratories for plant physiology, soil
analysis, chemistry, food technology, molecular genetics, genetic transformation tissue culture,
entomology, and plant pathology. A medium-term germplasm bank and several greenhouses are
also included.
Biotechnology R&D and Commercialization
Rice biotechnology research is undertaken in the genetics and tissue culture laboratories.
Equipment in these two laboratories has been provided through an initial JICA grant, JICA
Technical Assistance, ARBN, RF, and funds from the Philippine government. The present biotechnology
facilities include laboratory areas for transgenic work, anther culture, and molecular
marker analyses (Beronio and Payumo, 2004).
Rice biotechnology research is integrated in the five component programs: transplanted
irrigated lowland rice, direct-seeded irrigated lowland rice, hybrid rice, rice for adverse environments,
and rice and rice-based products. These programs are directly involved in the development
of varieties suited for specific locations and conditions and rice-based products (Sebastian
and Obien, 2000).
Specifically, the biotechnology R&D currently being pursued includes utilization of molecular
marker technology for assessing the diversity of germplasm resources, for fingerprinting or
establishing genetic identity of specific genotypes, for identification of appropriate parental
materials for breeding purposes, for tagging agronomically important genes, and for pyramiding
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