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Download PDF Scientists have developed a submergence resistant variety of rice that can withstand inundation, compensating for the yearly loss of yields to flash floods.
The variety, known as Swarna-Sub 1, holds out great hope for Bangladesh where recurrent floods wreak havoc on the Aman crop.
Floods keep around 70 percent flood-prone areas in Bangladesh inundated for one-two weeks on average, while the other areas remain under water for up to one month, said Saiful Hossain, executive engineer at Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre in Dhaka.
Scientists, however, said the new variety developed by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), would go through participatory field tests till 2010.
Trials have shown that Swarna-Sub 1 springs back to life even after being submerged for 10-17 days.
“Bangladesh has more arable land for Aman than for Boro. But then, Boro yield is way high because floods damage vast swathes of Aman fields almost every year, cutting down its production,” said Prof Dr MA Sattar Mandal of Bangladesh Agriculture University.
Floods damage Aman seedlings, forcing farmers to go for low-quality seedlings once the water recedes, he said.
“The new variety would surely boost our rice production when made available for farmers,” Prof Mandal said.
However, its production costs need to be taken into account before introducing it to farmers, he said.
After field tests at BRRI stations in Rangpur and Gazipur, Swarna-Sub1went through trials on farmers’ fields in Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Gaibandha and Sirajganj with the help of IRRI and NGOs during last year’s Aman season, said Dr MA Mazid, principal scientific officer of BRRI in Rangpur.
“The rice plants were kept submerged on ten fields for 5-9 days, they remained under water twice for 2-14 days on 12 fields and on two fields for 3-10 days. But yields in these fields were 3.88, 3.76 and 3.51 tonnes per hectare,” he said.
Dr Mazid said the yield was 4.9 tonnes a hectare in Lalmonirhat where the rice paddy was kept submerged for eight days. Water, however, delayed the flowering for 12-15 days, he added.
He said seed production was increased during the Boro season to expand the trials further this year.
With the participatory trials scheduled to go through 2010, the variety may be ready for farmers in three years from now, he said, adding that it would play a significant role in increasing rice production in the flash-flood prone areas.
Grown on around 58 lakh hectares, Aman yields stand at around one crore tonne while 1.75 crore tonnes of Boro is harvested from about 45 lakh hectares of land.
Executive Engineer Saiful said the submersion-resistant variety can redress production loss in vast areas of northern and north-eastern districts where flash floods are recurrent.
The IRRI and the BRRI also developed three other submersion-resistant varieties, codenamed BR11-Sub1, IR64-Sub1 and Sumba Mousuri-Sub 1. These varieties are, however, yet to go through participatory trials with farmers.
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