I MENTIONED in one of my past columns here at The Manila Times that one measure to ensure the local supply of rice is to plant in at least 1 million hectares of farmland the hybrid varieties. And over the medium to long term, the ultimate objective is to cover at most 2 million hectares of farms in the country with hybrid rice.

Hybrid rice is nothing new to the Philippines as the promotion of hybrid rice for wider planting in the country's around 4.8 million hectares of land devoted to the staple has been ongoing since the past administration. And President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., also our Agriculture secretary, also favors hybrid rice for the country to attain a higher level of rice self-sufficiency.