Philippines and

From September 17 to 23, APSA’s Special Interest Group on Field Crops and the Philippine Seed Industry Association (PSIA) in partnership with the Rice Board hosted 15 delegates from various APSA member organizations for the APSA Hybrid Rice and Corn Study Tour in the Philippines.

Day 1 of the tour saw participants visit hybrid rice field demonstrations and the genebank at PhilRice, as well as Prasad Seeds’ hybrid corn seed processing and drying facilities. The group commenced Day 2 of the tour at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), where they met with Dr. Jauhar Ali, Hybrid Rice Breeding Lead Principal Scientist for a sit-down discussion.

Afterwards, they were treated to a tour of the world’s largest International Rice

Gene Bank, and concluded the IRRI visit with a stop by their Grain Quality & Nutrition Center, Seed Warehousing and Rapid Generation Advance facilities. The day ended with a trip to SL Agritech Corporation, where participants got to visit their impressive Hybrid Rice Field Demonstration.

The third day of the tour started off with an early morning flight from Manila to Davao, where participants visited various Hybrid Rice Field Demonstrations from SL Agritech, Tao Seeds, Longping Seeds and Bioseeds. On the next day, delegates participated in the 10th National Rice Technology Forum, where they visited various Hybrid Rice Field Demonstrations from over 12 companies, including Syngenta, Advanta Seeds, Bayer CropScience, PhilRice, Ramgo

by Mike Kingpayom

International, Leads Agri, Bioseed, SL Agritech, Corteva Agriscience, Tao Seeds, Seedworks Philippines, and Longping Seeds.

The last and final day of the tour kicked off in the morning with visiting corn field demonstrations from Bayer CropScience and Syngenta, before finishing off at Macatabo Farm, a beautiful urban agrofarm.

The five days provided an amazing, educational, and unforgettable journey for participants. would like to thank all of the participants who took part in our study tour, and give a big heartfelt appreciation to those who made this tour possible, specifically the Philippine Seed Industry Association (PSIA), PhilRice, and the Department of Agriculture Philippines.