Novel varieties

cultivators of rice in India have something to look forward to. Agricultural researchers at the Karjat Research Centre, Maharashtra, have developed the nation's first hybrid rice variety -- krh-1. This new variety has an aroma like the famed basmati rice and is classed as a 'superior' type. Besides, it can be cultivated in all rice-growing states of India.

Chinese scientists had developed the first rice hybrid, followed by scientists from South Korea, the Philippines, Japan and the us.

First generation hybrids produce seeds in large quantities. But these seeds, although palatable, are unfavourable for cultivation because they are self-fertilised. To grow a good crop in the succeeding year, farmers need a fresh supply of first generation hybrid seeds. To produce a hybrid seed the rice plant fertilises by itself, since both male and female parts are present in the same plant. For crossing two varieties of rice, plant breeders remove the male parts from one variety and then fertilise it with pollen from the other. Since all this has to be done manually it is not possible to do it when seeds are required in large quantities. Chinese scientists found an easy solution to the problem. They discovered a wild variety of rice possessing natural male sterility. Seeds of this male sterile variety were planted in a row next to a row of rice and were fertilised by wind-carried pollen from the second row. By planting alternate rows of the two types, seeds of hybrid rice could be produced in abundance.

Research on hybrid rice in India is being carried out at 12 centres other than the one at Maharashtra. Plant breeders working at Kerala Agriculture University's Rice Research Station based at Vyttila, Kerala, have developed a promising variety of rice for saline soils found in the coastal areas of the state. The new variety gives rise to tall paddy plants and is ready for harvesting within 110-115 days. The yield potential is about 4.5 tonnes of paddy per hectare. Besides, polished rice obtained from this variety has a high protein content.

Rice breeders like Gurdevsingh Kush working at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, are striving hard to 'redesign' the rice plant. They have developed an ideal rice variety called 'super' rice, with fewer but stronger stalks, each bearing a panicle with twice as many grains compared to the non-hybridised varieties. Kush's 'super' rice will be available to farmers for cultivation by the year 2000. The plant will yield 25 per cent more rice than the current high-yielding varieties.

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