section_path: Economy/Science and technology
section_name: Science and technology
paragraph_text: Science and technology
  
  The Philippines has one of the largest agricultural-research systems in Asia, despite relatively low spending on agricultural research and development. The country has developed new varieties of crops, including rice, coconuts, and bananas. Research organizations include the Philippine Rice Research Institute and the International Rice Research Institute.
  
  The Philippine Space Agency maintains the country's space program, and the country bought its first satellite in 1996. Diwata-1, its first micro-satellite, was launched on the United States' Cygnus spacecraft in 2016.
  
  The Philippines has a high concentration of cellular-phone users, and a high level of mobile commerce. Text messaging is a popular form of communication, and the nation sent an average of one billion SMS messages per day in 2007. The Philippine telecommunications industry had been dominated by the PLDT - Globe Telecom duopoly for more than two decades, and the 2021 entry of Dito Telecommunity improved the country's telecommunications service.