Cultivation of BRRI Hybrid Dhan - 5 and BRRI Hybrid Dhan - 3, high-yielding rice varieties developed by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, has raised a ray of hope among the farmers of Gopalganj district.
According to the Rice Research Institute of Gopalganj region, about 10.86 metric tons of BRRI Hybrid Dhan - 5 on five-acre land and 9.67 metric tons of BRRI-3 on 3-hectare land have been produced this year.
Md Milon, Kotalipara Upazila Agriculture Officer (UAO), said BRRI-Dhan is more profitable and its spending cost is less than the conventional variety.
The seeds of the two varieties produce more rice — 11 to 12 tons per hectare — as compared to only seven tons per hectare produced by other varieties in the same planting areas,” said Milon.
Many local farmers expressed their interest in cultivating the varieties, he added.
There was bumper yield in all areas in the district due to timely rainfall, favourable weather and absence of disasters like a storm.
Farmers can grow the new varieties in 140-145 days, and its neck is hard enough to survive storms. Each paddy plant of the varieties contains 12-15 bunches, which helps deliver higher yields, BRRI scientists informed.
“It is a new variety of Boro paddy and farmers get good yield at very low cost. Local farmers are showing their interest to cultivate this variety on their lands,” said Sayeedi Rahman, scientific officer of BRRI, Gopalganj region.
Hybrid-5 and 3 are thinner than other high-yielding varieties developed earlier. The new variety is rich in food value as it contains 23.4 percent carbohydrates.
They are resilient to diseases, natural calamities and adverse weather conditions and it is suitable for cultivation during the boro season.
He also said most of the hybrid rice varieties are imported and some of those were developed from foreign paternal lines.
“Farmers won’t need to buy imported seed at a higher price each year, they can now easily produce seeds from this hybrid variety.”
“This hybrid variety’s rice is crispier than other similar rice varieties - a quality more desirable by the consumers,” said the scientist.
A farmer has to spend Tk 200-250 for per kg seed of foreign hybrid variety but now he can buy the same amount of the new local BRRI-5, and 3 only at Tk 35-50.
The demand for the new grain of rice is very high compared to conventional varieties, he also said.
Thanda Sheikh, a farmer of Harinhati village of Kotalipara, said he has cultivated the varieties on 1.5-acre land at a cost of Tk 15,000.
He has already harvested 5.18 tons of rice, he also said.
“I hope I will make a profit of Tk 40, 000 by selling the rice this time, whereas I earned only Tk 21, 000 last year by cultivating the conventional varieties,” he further said.
He added that he is very happy as he got bumper yield, which is a record yield for him than previous years.
Dr Khairul Alam Bhuiyan, head of BRRI, Gopalganj region, said the production of the varieties is better than conventional paddies.
BRRI Dhan-5 and 3 a short duration and drought tolerant paddy variety innovated by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), has gradually been gaining popularity among farmers.
Baka Sheikh, a farmer of Patgati Sardarpara village in Tungipara upazila, expressed his happiness over cultivating the varieties.
Dr Khairul Alam Bhuiyan said the conventional variety is being replaced by the new variety which is a good sign for the region in terms of boosting yield.
The research institute sources said a project of 100 plots have been launched for cultivating the varieties on 40-acre land in Gopalganj, Narail, Bagerhat and Pirojpur districts this year.
Anyone can produce seeds from the paddy as the Hybrid-5 has been developed from local paternal lines. Farmers can collect seeds of this hybrid variety from us at lower cost and BRRI scientists will provide technical support to them.
The production of the new variety has been set to boost farmers’ rice yields and food security in the country, said Sayeedi Rahman, scientific officer of BRRI.
