By promoting high yield varieties, chemical fertilizers, and herbicides,[4] the program initially allowed the Philippines to attain self-sufficiency in 1975–1976, and export rice to its neighboring Asian countries in 1977–1978.
[2][7] "Masagana" is a Filipino term for "bountiful"[8] while 99 refers to the number of sacks of rice targeted as the yield per hectare of land in every harvest season.
[9] Masagana 99 was conceived by the administration of then Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos[8] as way to cope with a nationwide rice shortage arising from the various natural disasters and pest inverstations in 1972.
The program planned to achieve this by pushing farmers to use newly developed technologies including high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, low-cost fertilizer, and herbicides.
The Central Bank designed subsidized rediscounting facilities for public and private credit institutions throughout the country, encouraging them to give loans to farmers without collateral or other usual borrowing requirements.
[13] National Scientist and former University of the Philippines President Emil Q. Javier notes that by 1980, "Masagana 99 ceased to be of consequence as only 3.7 percent of the small rice farmers were able to borrow.
"[11] By 1981, the program's problems were apparent enough that Southeast Asian news outlets noted that Masagana 99 and its aquaculture equivalent, Biyayang Dagat, were lacking in funds due to low loan repayment rates.