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[av_heading heading=’ URBAN FARMER | Development of hybrid rice varieties is not an easy task’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY JULIO P. YAP JR.
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Monday, May 8, 2017
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THE development of hybrid rice varieties is not instant.
Their development starts with careful selection and testing of genetically diverse inbred lines, making crosses, and choosing the best hybrid combinations through years of testing for field performance, disease and insect resistance, and grain quality.
The NSIC Rc446H or Mestiso 73 (M73) is one of the newest hybrid rice varieties ready for pre-commercialization.
It was bred by Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the University of the Philippines Los Baños.
National Cooperative Test (NCT) results from 2013 wet season (WS) to 2015 dry season (DS) showed that M73 yields as high as 11.6 t/ha.
It has a yield advantage of 6.77 percent and 3.05 percent over the hybrids Mestizo 1 and Mestiso 19 (M19), respectively.
M73 has long, slender, and good eating quality grains.
It has an intermediate reaction to blast, sheath blight, and green leafhoppers, grows 107 cm, and matures in 113 days.
The PhilRice-bred lines PR40638H and PR47216H are expected to surpass the performance of the two outstanding check varieties – M19 and the inbred PSB Rc82.
These lines are being tested in multi-locations for their yield, pest and disease resistance, and grain quality.
With PR40638H, the resistance of hybrids to BLB may be achieved. This elite line is an improved version of the Mestiso 3 with inserted Xa4+Xa21, the gene that contains the trait to withstand most BLB isolates.
PR40638H is currently at NCT and yields as high as 9.7 t/ha in both DS and WS.
The PR47216H line, on the other hand, has an average yield of 9.6 t/ha, which is 22.24 percent and 31.06 percent higher compared with M19 and PSBRc82, respectively.
As soon as it passes the NCT, PR47216H will be recommended for registration at the National Seed Industry Council that approves the release of rice varieties.
With promising results, researchers have high hopes that these new lines will reach the Filipino rice farmers.
PhilRice, in partnership with the Bureau of Agricultural Research and International Rice Research Institute, also developed new machines to help farmers cut on fuel and labor costs.
The Hydrous Bioethanol Fuel-Feeding Device, installed in a modified spark-ignition engine, uses hydrous bioethanol fuel to power small agricultural machines.
It can power microtillers, power tiller haulers, micromills, water pumps, pump boats, and other machines operated by gasoline engine.
Hydrous bioethanol fuel can be extracted from sugar-rich crops such as nipa, sugarcane molasses, acacia fruit, and pineapple peels using a bioethanol fermentation and distillation facility.
Another machine developed by PhilRice is the Hand Tractor Mounted Multi-Purpose Seeder (MP Seeder).
The machine is attachable to local hand tractors with ride-on operator for mechanical dry direct-seeding for rain-fed areas.
Aside from rice, it can also plant mungbeans and corn seeds in dry pulverized soil and later cover the seeds with another layer to protect them from birds and rodents.
The machine is an attachment to common hand tractors that are already owned by farmers to lessen their expenses.
Both machines are expected to be commercialized in 2018. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
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