science offers better rice yields

MANILA - PHILIPPINE farmers are to be given access to three new varieties of rice that should help the country slash imports and produce more at home, a research group said on Thursday.
The International Rice Research Institute developed grain, one of which can withstand floods, while one can survive drought and another has a high salt tolerance.

The Philippines, a nation of 90 million people and the world's biggest rice buyer, was forced to ramp up imports and even ration handouts to its poorest neighbourhoods last year as prices spiked at near-30 year highs.