The government has introduced two more varieties of hybrid rice for cultivation aiming to boost the rice production in the country.
The new varieties, BADC Hybrid Dhan 2 and Buyer Hybrid Dhan 4, were released on Monday, each variety having the capacity of producing around six tonnes of paddy per hectare.
Anwar Faruque, director general of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Seed Wing, said the government gives priority to the cultivation of more hybrid varieties to boost the food production in the country, and introducing the two new hybrid varieties is a part of that.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the annual paddy production, in Bangladesh is around 3.38 million tonnes.
The paddy production using traditional and locally developed high-yielding varieties are two tonnes and 3.8 tonnes per hectare, respectively. The paddy production using hybrid seed is 4.7 tonnes per hectare.
Of the new hybrid paddy varieties, the BADC Hybrid Dhan 2, sourced from China by Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), has the production capacity of 6.5-7.2 tonnes per hectare, and the Buyer Hybrid 4, sourced from India by Bayer Crop Science, has the production capacity of 6-6.5 tonnes per hectare, sources at the ministry said.
Around 10-12% of the total paddy production in the country came from hybrid seeds, which is very low in volume, said Anwar, who is also an additional secretary at the ministry.
“The government is trying to enhance the use of hybrid seeds to get more production in the gradually reducing agricultural land to ensure food security of the country,” he added.
The state-owned Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) has developed 62 varieties of paddy so far. Of them, the number of hybrid varieties is only six.
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 the rest were developed by private companies.
