Bayer crop unit to invest P40M in Laguna seed facility

Bayer CropScience Inc. (Philippines) will invest P40 million this year to expand the production capacity of its hybrid rice seeds station in Calauan, Laguna.

Head of Seeds Analen dela Rosa said a larger seed processing facility would be able to produce 50 metric tons (MT) a day from the current capacity of 10 MT.

A seed processing facility consists of lines for sorting, conditioning, treatment and packaging.

The company will also establish a new breeding station at the same site to test new hybrid rice varieties for the local and Southeast Asian markets.

“We will be testing a thousand varieties for the Asian markets, not just the Philippines,” said dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa said the company's seed businees has been growing “in the double digits” in the last four years.

“We are targeting to be the market leader by next year, that’s why we’re putting all these facilities to achieve this goal,” she said.

Studies done by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) show that hybrid rice seeds can increase yield by 15 percent. The government is advocating the use of hybrid rice varieties seeds under its Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP).

The Philippines intends to attain self-sufficiency in rice by producing 20 million MT this year.

Bayer CropScience Philippines is the local unit of multinational Bayer CropScience, the agricultural technology arm of the Bayer Group. It specializes in seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control.