NUEVA ECIJA, Apr. 15 The first-ever ASEAN regional tie-up on germplasm materials exchange and rice technologies paves the way for the creation of promising genetic make-ups against biotic and abiotic stresses. Xavier Greg Caguiat represents PhilRice in the project.
To help develop quality, climate-change resilient varieties, the Philippines has been part of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) collaboration on rice technologies and germplasm since 2016.
Through the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute’s (DA-PhilRice) Genetic Resources Division, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Lao PDR have been effecting material exchanges with agreed intellectual property coverage. To be completed this year, the collective pool has opened pathways to identifying promising genetic make-ups.