With an aim to boost rice production, the government is planning to introduce five more paddy varieties soon for the Aman season.
Four of those new varieties have been developed by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), while the other one has been developed by Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA).
“The newly invented varieties have already got their nod from the Seed Certification Board and are now waiting for final approval,” said Jibon Krisna Biswas, director general of BRRI. The final decision on releasing the varieties would be made at a meeting on July 12, he added.
According to the developers of the varieties, the new forms of paddy would have the capacity of higher yield than the average production rate.
The BINA-invented variety named BINA Dhan 17 is able to produce seven tonnes of Aman paddy per hectare, compared to the five tonnes per hectare rate for the average Aman paddy.
“The government is trying to ensure food security of the country by enhancing the use of high-yielding seeds to get more production in the gradually reducing agricultural land,” the BRRI DG said.
Since the country’s independence, government-owned research institutes have invented 78 rice varieties. Of them, BRRI introduced 62 varieties and BINA introduced 16 varieties. Of the total rice varieties, BRRI introduced 29 Aman and BINA released 12 Aman varieties.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the annual paddy production, in Bangladesh is around 3.38 million tonnes.
In addition to the regular paddy varieties, a total of 132 varieties of hybrid paddy have been introduced in Bangladesh. Of them, the BADC developed two varieties, the BRRI developed six, and private companies developed the rest.
Around 10-12% of the total paddy production in the country comes from hybrid seeds.