09/04/2026
𝐈𝐑𝐑𝐈 𝐚𝐭 𝟔𝟔: 𝐀 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐀𝐦𝐢𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬
As the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) marks its 66th anniversary, farmer-led network Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG) underscores that IRRI remains a product and instrument of imperialism in agriculture, further deepening farmers precarity amid the on-going oil crisis- evident in the Philippines’ continued dependence on fossil fuel-based inputs where as much as 97% of urea was historically imported and fertilizer prices, tightly linked to oil, have repeatedly surged during global energy shocks.
Established oin April 4, 1960 by the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, IRRI emerged from the Green Revolution, a project shaped by United States corporate and geopolitical interests. Backed by global financial institutions and coordinated under the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), IRRI promoted high-yielding varieties (HYVs) that tied farmers to chemical inputs, fossil fuel-dependent technologies, and global markets.
MASIPAG asserts that this model is rooted in earlier crises of overproduction in industrial economies, particularly the surplus of synthetic fertilizers linked to the oil and chemical industries. These conditions drove the expansion of input-intensive agriculture into the Global South, embedding dependence on imported technologies and fuels.
Historical data reveal the depth of this vulnerability: during the 1973 oil crisis, the Philippines’ oil bill surged from USD 200 million to USD 700 million, while fertilizer prices quadrupled; the cost of cultivating one hectare of rice increased by 51%, and net farm incomes declined by as much as 52% between 1970 and 1981. What was promoted as agricultural modernization became, in practice, a mechanism of indebtedness and structural dependence.
Today, amid escalating geopolitical tensions and oil-driven conflicts, the same conditions persist. Around 45% of synthetic fertilizers globally come from the Persian Gulf, with 15% directly from Iran, making supply chains highly sensitive to conflict; as fuel prices rise, so too do the costs of fertilizers, pesticides, and mechanization, reproducing the same cycle of rising production costs, shrinking incomes, and farmer indebtedness first exposed in the 1970s.
IRRI’s consolidation of seeds through gene banks and promotion of uniform varieties also exemplifies genetic imperialism, as Dr. Burton T. Oñate defines it, the control of agricultural resources by powerful nations and corporations, undermining farmers’ rights, seed sovereignty, and local biodiversity.
IRRI’s history cannot be separated from imperialist expansion and the global crises we face today. Its model of agriculture has entrenched dependency, worsened inequality, and exposed farmers to recurring oil shocks and geopolitical instability.
In the second week of April, MASIPAG, together with KASAMA-TK and NNARA Youth, will hold a multisectoral event uniting farmers, students, scientists, and advocates to renew the calls: IRRI out now!; Genuine Agrarian Reform and National Industrialization are the answers to the food and oil crisis; condemn imperialist plunder of the US; Junk PD 1620!
On its 66th anniversary, MASIPAG joins farmers, scientists, and advocates in resounding the call to end corporate control over agriculture and advance farmer-led agroecology, a system that rejects imperialist dependency and upholds food sovereignty, sustainability, and social justice.