ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 25 - ADOPTION OF THE HYBRID RICE TECHNOLOGY AS STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE RICE SUFFICIENCY AND SETTING PROGRAM TARGETS THEREFORE

WHEREAS, the country's food security depends primarily on its ability to achieve rice sufficiency;

WHEREAS, the country's annual population growth rate is at 2.3% while rice yields over the last 15 years have grown only by 1.9%;

WHEREAS, highly populated countries, notably China and India, have been utilizing with proven success the hybrid rice technology;

WHEREAS, the development and promotion of the hybrid rice technology, as a continuing program towards rice sufficiency, need all the support of the public and private sectors;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby authorize the Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, the National Food Authority, and their respective allied agencies to accelerate and intensify the promotion of the utilization of the hybrid rice technology.

In support thereof, the Department of Budget and Management shall accord priority to the allocation of funds to support the various components of the Hybrid Rice Program, and the research institutions in the country, especially the Philippine Rice Research Institute, shall focus its research agenda on the development of new rice hybrids.

I urge the seed producers, the input suppliers, the providers of irrigation and mechanization technologies, the market intermediaries composed of millers, wholesalers, and retailers, and more particularly our farmers who will cultivate the rice hybrids to support and provide the critical mass to increase the utilization of the hybrid rice technology.

The hybrid rice planting targets shall cover 135,000 hectares in 2002, 200,000 hectares in 2003, and 300,000 hectares in 2004 in the major irrigated rice producing provinces.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 12th day of December, in the year of Our Lord, two thousand and one.