Bangladesh develops high yield rice that can survive tidal floods

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Scientists have come up with a solution for southern farmers who have long been deprived of the benefits of high-yield modern rice varieties (MVs) that cannot grow on tidal wetlands.

After 12 years of arduous breeding process, they succeeded in developing two modern varieties suitable for cultivation in the tidal floodplain ecosystem of the southern delta region, with the promise of an additional yield of one million tonnes a year.

The varieties — proposed as BRRI dhan77 and BRRI dhan78 — are set to get regulatory approval anytime this month, said Director General of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Jiban Krishna Biswas.

. . . .

. . .[I]ndigenous varieties have performed better than modern varieties on tidal floodplains because seedlings of the former are taller than the latter. As the region is at the proximity of the sea and inland estuaries, shorter seedlings often fail to survive the water flowing in and out with high tide and low tide twice a day.

BRRI dhan77 and BRRI dhan78 are bred in a way that their seedlings would be tall in size and would survive the tidal wetland condition, said Helal, a BRRI plant breeder.

 

Read full, original post: Taller, stronger rice plant

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