Grain gains

Agro-scientists at West Bengal government's rice research station have developed four high-yielding rice varieties which will increase current levels of yield by an average of 30 per cent. While the seeds for two of the varieties have been derived through a process of 'multiple cross advance seed generation' method from seeds given by the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute, the other two seeds have been developed locally through 'hybridisation of local variety with incorporation of dwarf gene'. The first two rice varieties, Jalaprabha and Saraswati are considered superior for their ability to thrive under scarce water conditions.