The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) will release its new submergence-resistant and salt-tolerant rice variety to the farmers very soon.
The BRRI has prioritised its research on flash flood submergence, salt stress, cold and drought resistant varieties, said an official.
The new variety being developed in cooperation with experts from India, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the United States, has passed a series of field tests. It is now in a stage of getting approval of the agriculture ministry for use commercial by farmers.
BRRI research Director Dr. M A Salam, said the flood resistant variety uses the sub-one gene in the domestic high-yielding BR11 rice, which has an average yield of five tonnes per hectare.
The rice called BR11 Sub-one, can survive up to 17 days under water and appears to be most suitable for areas that suffer from flash floods every year, Dr. Salam said on Monday.
The BRRI scientists are working with 50 flash flood submergence and 60 salt tolerant rice lines. "BRRI scientists successfully introduced sub-one gene into BR-11, a mega variety for transplanted Aman." Said Dr. Salam.
Salam however declined to say exactly when the new variety of rice would be rolled out. As part of the exercise on the field, two scientists from IRRI recently visited BRRI at Joydevpur to see the submergence and salinity screening facilities there. They are IRRI's senior plant breeder Dr. Abdelbagi M Ismail and Irrigation specialist Dr. T P Tuong. Bangladesh needs 24 million tonnes of rice annually to feed its population of roughly 150 million. New rice varieties hold out the promise of overcoming food shortages, Salam said.
To overcome the food shortages the scientists are working to reach the Sub1 and other such varieties and the wider spread of GM rice to the farmers as early as possible.
BRRI to release new flood tolerant rice variety soon
Syed Ishtiaque Reza | Published: August 18, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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