The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) has developed a new high-yielding rice variety awaiting release. It suffers less from disease and pests than conventional varieties, yields one to two maunds more per bigha than existing varieties and gives more straw. The variety, BRRI dhan103, is awaiting approval at the National Seed Board.

Dr Biswajit Karmakar, chief scientific officer of BRRI's Sonagazi regional office, said BRRI dhan103 has all the traits of modern high-yielding rice. Its plant type differs from BRRI dhan87; mature plants average 125 cm, the grain is long and slender and straw-coloured, leaves are light green, the flag leaf is erect, long and broad, and stems and leaves stay green at maturity. Panicles sit above the flag leaf, making the field attractive. A thousand grains weigh about 23.7 grams, with 8.3 per cent protein and 24 per cent amylose. It averages 6.2 tonnes per hectare and can reach 7.98 tonnes with good care, over a 130-day life cycle (128-133 days).

The variety suits rain-fed transplanted Aman. Seed should be sown from 15 June to 7 July (1 to 21 Asharh), and 25-30-day seedlings transplanted two or three per hill at 25 cm by 15 cm. Fertiliser follows other high-yielding varieties: urea, TSP, MoP, gypsum and zinc sulphate at 180, 85, 100, 70 and 12.5 kg per hectare, with urea in three equal splits at 10, 25 and 40 days after transplanting. Integrated pest management should be used if pests or disease appear.

The variety has passed the national technical committee and will be spread nationwide after NSB approval, contributing to rice output and helping meet food shortages linked to the Russia-Ukraine war, Dr Karmakar said.

Trial farmer Abu Sayeed Rubel of South Char Chandia, Sonagazi, Feni, said that where other Aman varieties give 5 tonnes per hectare, the new one gives more than 6. Md Mofazzal Karim, DAE additional director for the Chattogram region, said other varieties were damaged by Cyclone Sitrang but BRRI dhan103 barely was and did not lodge.

Source: Jagonews24 (reported by Abdullah Al-Mamun). First published in Bengali on The Agro News.