FORMER Department of Agrarian Reform secretary and former Anakpawis party-list representative Rafael Mariano on Saturday said that the hybrid seeds program being pushed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will be more disadvantageous than helpful to farmers.

Mariano, who is also the chairman emeritus of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), added that the hybrid seed program is much like the Masagana 99 program of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. that tied peasants into a chemically-dependent high-yielding variety seeds and costly fertilizers.