Philippines Hybrid Rice Seed Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Philippines Hybrid Rice Seed Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Philippine hybrid rice seed market is projected to register a CAGR of 5.2% during the forecast period (2022 - 2027).

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the country suffered from supply chain disruptions. The farmers suffered due to the shortage of planting materials and other services. The primary producers and all the players in the value chain suffered income losses. The lockdown restrictions led to transportation problems across the country.

Increasing demand for rice as a staple food among consumers, favorable government initiatives, and growing adoption of modern rice varieties in the Philippines are anticipated to remain favorable factors. Industry growth is also positively influenced by technologically advanced agricultural practices that have eventually improved yield and strengthened the supply. Moreover, the Philippines government launched a national hybrid rice program. The program aims to utilize hybrid rice technology as a new approach to cumulative national rice production, increase the productivity and competitiveness of Filipino farmers over the short term, and reach national rice self-sufficiency and food security over the long term.

Some of the major factors driving the hybrid rice seed market in Philippines include favourable government policies, increased adoption of modern rice varieties, as well as incresing consumption of rice as a staple crop.

Non transgenic rice is the dominating hybrid rice type in Philippines. Since June 2021, the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) has been providing seed growers with training in order to assure the availability of high-quality and sufficient hybrid rice seeds. The major regions of focus for developing these hybrid rice seeds include Cagayan, Isabela, Kalinga, and Nueva Vizcaya. Such training is increasing the popularity of non-transgenic hybrid seeds in the Philippines.

Rice is an essential economic commodity. Its consumption is seeing robust growth, which is driven by factors like high population and economic growth in the country. As per the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), rice provides 20% of the dietary protein, 27% of the dietary energy supply, and 3% of the dietary fat.

Furthermore, as per USDA in 2021, The Philippines is a key rice consumer, with a population of roughly 110 million and annual per capita rice consumption of 133 kg. Rice is typically eaten at every meal and provides the largest share of the average Filipino’s caloric intake. PhilRice notes that only 2 out of 10 Filipino families meet the estimated average requirement for vitamin A in their daily diet.

Several players in the country are also offering their hybrid rice varieties to expand in the hybrid rice seed market. For instance, Bayer introduced the first dual trait hybrid rice in the Philippines.

Thus, with rising awareness and increasing consumption of rice in the country, farmers are intensively concentrating on increasing rice yields on their limited land, which is anticipated to further boost the adoption of hybrid seeds in the market.

To achieve the Philippines' objective of being self-sufficient in rice, the government sees hybridization as a crucial component. Some hybrid types yield twice as much rice per hectare, which makes them a desirable alternative for a nation with a high rice consumption rate, like the Philippines.

The Philippines is home to the International Rice Research Institute and is one of the most prolific users of non-transgenic hybrid rice seeds in the region to meet the rising demands. Based on the 2017 PhilRice policy brief, planting hybrid rice is one way to improve farmers' competitiveness. Mestiso20, public hybrid rice bred by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and University of the Philippines in Los Banos, has been found to show high yield along with moderate resistance to yellow stem borer, green leafhopper, and brown plant hopper. Therefore, the adoption of this non - transgenic hybrid rice seed is increasing in the country, particularly in the Quezon area, where the demand for this has been rising during the past few years as a result of successful demonstrations of it in the region.

The Philippine hybrid rice seed market is a consolidated one, with few players in the market. Bayer AG, Pioneer Hi-Bred Philippines Inc. SL Agritech Corporation, Syngenta Philippines Inc., and Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co., Ltd. are the major players observed during the study period.

The market studied is anticipated to become more consolidated in the coming years, with major players actively participating in various strategies. The key players are investing heavily in R&D to launch innovative products as per the requirement of the farmers.

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
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