Chinese hybrid rice thrives in Philippines

Missing fundamentals Workers plant rice in Los Banos town, in the Laguna province. The Philippines agriculture and fisheries sector remains far from modernised, according to experts. - AFP

Every day, 98-year-old Melencio Maniego walks the narrow earthen banks between his 16-hectare rice fields to inspect his crops.

“I’ve planted Chinese hybrid rice for over a decade,” the Filipino said, gazing across the green and yellow paddies in Central Luzon, dubbed “rice granary of the Philippines”.