THE Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) wants to expand its collection of rice varieties to 21,000 by yearend, an official said on Thursday.
PhilRice science research specialist Malvin Duldulao said the agency’s genebank currently holds 20,743 varieties collected from Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. The collection surpassed 20,000 varieties in 2025.
“By December, we hope this will reach 21,000 rice varieties. We are hoping that more varieties will be donated or collected,” Duldulao told reporters.
Palawan has contributed the most varieties to the collection because of the diversity of rice grown in the province, Duldulao said. Ifugao and other areas in the Cordillera also have a wide range of varieties.
The PhilRice Genebank, located in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, is the country’s national storage facility and repository for collecting, conserving and managing rice genetic resources. It is administered by PhilRice’s genetic resources division.
Duldulao said the genebank provides the genetic material needed to develop new rice varieties.
“Without a genebank, there would be no seed breeding because the materials used for breeding come from here,” he said.
Plant breeders select and cross varieties from the collection to develop rice that can withstand the effects of climate change, resist pests and diseases, and meet changing market needs, he added.
The genebank likewise helps preserve the country’s agricultural biodiversity by protecting traditional rice varieties from extinction and supplying genetic material for developing climate-resilient, high-yielding crops.
