TEHRAN -- OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri has rejected calls from oil consuming states for a hike in the cartel's crude output, saying that non-fundamental factors were to blame for current high prices.

"At the moment there is enough oil in the market and no need to change OPEC's output," al-Badri said in Tehran late Saturday after arriving the day earlier for a three-day visit to the Islamic republic.

He blamed the "US economic recession, lack of refining capacity and depreciation of the dollar's value" for the record oil prices, according to state television.

2 rice varieties developed

The Philippine Rice Research Institute announced in a press release that two high-yielding and pest-resistant rice varieties were developed locally using biotechnology tools in answer to the country’s problem of low productivity in recent years.

PhilRice director Leocadio Sebastian said NSIC Rc142 (Tubigan 7) and NSIC Rc154 (Tubigan 11) were developed using marker-aided selection for genetic traits that can resist pests such as bacterial leaf blight and tungro.

Sebastian said the two alternative rice varieties can compare very well with ordinary commercial rice and even fancy rice and are safe for human consumption.

GOCCs urged to lead
in ‘corporate farming’

Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas has urged state-owned firms to take the lead in advancing the planned massive "corporate farming" of rice and other crops in order to quickly build up food production countrywide.

Gullas, in a press release, said all government-owned or-controlled corporations should develop in-house farms and internally produce food, enough at least to match or offset the consumption of their employees.

"Let us compel every GOCC to set achievable in-house food production targets. Then let us assign a panel to monitor performance in terms of actual yield," the press release quoted him as saying.

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