The Philippines

The seed sector in The Philippines

The Department of Agriculture governs the activities of the National Seed Industry Council. The Philippines, home to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), is one of the most prolific users of hybrid rice seed in the region, produced by companies such as local enterprise SL Agritech as well as Syngenta.

While rice and maize are the main field crops cultivated, huge scope lies in the development of the vegetable seed sector. East-West Seed is working in partnership with the Department of Agriculture to strengthen the vegetable seed market.

The strong regulatory framework for plant breeding and low cost involved in the variety registration process make the country attractive for seed business investments.

Some 0.6 million hectares were planted with GM maize in 2017, a decrease compared to 2016 (0.8 million hectares). This is attributed to the presence of counterfeit GM maize. To overcome this, the Bureau of Plant Industry has published a list of authorized GM maize suppliers.

GM crops in the pipeline for approval include Bt eggplant, Golden Rice, Bt papaya and Bt cotton.

Observations

Eighteen index companies report having a presence in the Philippines. Eight companies indicate having testing locations, six have breeding locations and four have processing locations.

Seven companies produce seed. Smallholder farmers are involved in 100% of the seed production for Corteva Agriscience and 98% for Bayer and East-West Seed.

Six companies have extension services and together they employed more than 200 staff in such activities in 2015-2017.

Companies are encouraged to strengthen their business activities in the country by focusing on R&D and information dissemination to farmers to increase their access to quality seed.