Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The scientists of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) have developed three new rice varieties, namely BRRI dhan48, BRRI dhan49 and BRRI hybrid dhan2.
The National Seed Board (NSB) has recently released the varieties for mass cultivation. With these three, the total number of BRRI developed high yielding modern rice varieties stood at 50.
“The three new rice varieties will enhance the sales turnover of farmers as there will be less wastage in processing the key food item,” an official of BRRI was quoted by the Financial Express, the country’s lone financial daily, as saying.
Yield of BRRI dhan48, a transplanted Aus variety with 115 days growth duration, is 5 tones per hectare. Its milled rice is medium size and cooked rice non-sticky. It is moderately resistant against bacterial blight.
BRRI dhan49, a transplanted Aman variety with 135 days growth duration, has the potential to yield half of a ton per hectare more than BR11 and one tonne more than BRRI dhan32.
Cultivation of the three varieties would contribute much to attain food security of Bangladesh, experts said.
Combined with the increased price of rice in international markets, a domestic production shortfall of aman adversely affected the country’s food security and poverty profile, according to the latest Quarterly Economic Update of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Agriculture grew at 3.6 per cent in FY2008, after recovering from losses caused by the two floods and the cyclone in the first half of the fiscal year.
BBN/SS/SSR/AD-31October08-3:03 PM (PM)
