Loss of Filipino rice crops was stoppable

CALAMBA CITY, Philippines, May 18 (UPI) -- The ongoing loss of rice crops throughout the Philippines at the hands of a growing insect horde could have been prevented, researchers say.

International Rice Research Institute researchers say they could have created rice varieties that would have been resistant to brown plant hoppers, but budget cuts by the Filipino government hindered their research, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Institute Director General Robert S. Zeigler said the budget cuts were due to the international stance that the world's food problems had finally been under control.

"People felt that the world food crisis was solved, that food security was no longer an issue, and it really fell off the agenda," he told the Times.

Yet with East Asian rice crops now threatened with billions of the minuscule insects, global leaders have begun to finally take action.

The Times said the U.S. Congress has been asked for $770 million to provide food aid to struggling global populations. Nonetheless, the United States has begun cutting funding to global research sites such as the rice institute that are aimed at improving crops in poor countries, the U.S. newspaper said.