NUEVA ECIJA -- To ensure high-quality and enough seeds of hybrid rice, the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) has been training seed growers in Region II and CAR since June this year.

Ending in October, four batches of season-long training and two batches of retooling on hybrid rice seed production and certification were lined-up.

The trainees, who are expected to lead the production of public hybrid rice seeds in their areas, gained the principles of hybrid rice seed production.

They were also educated on the three-line hybrid rice system and its major stages, management and practices of cytoplasmic male sterile seed production, and seed technology. Hands-on activities on seed soaking, incubation, seedbed preparation, seed sowing, weed identification, and rouging were conducted.

The Bureau of Plant Industry,  Department of Agriculture Agricultural Training Institute, and DA-PhilRice spearhead the series of training.

Seed grower-participants are from Cagayan, Isabela, Kalinga, and Nueva Vizcaya. This training initiative complements the Hybrid Rice Program of the Department of Agriculture. (ASFontanilla / DA-PhilRice)