New salinity resistant paddy seeds
Posted on: 01/Aug/2015 8:14:49 PM
After 10 years of deep research, plant breeding scientists at Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University`s Research Station at Machilipatnam have come up with two new varieties of paddy seeds that exclusively suit saline soil.
MCM 103 and Kharif variety and Rabi variety MCM110 the seed variety of seed developed by Principal Scientist T. Anuradha and Scientist K. Nagendra Rao. The crop period is 140 and 120 days for the two crops respectively.
MCM 103 is tagged as the best variety of paddy seed by the Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) out of all the 40 entries found across the country in the year 2013. The expected result from these new varieties of paddy was found to be up to the par as per the test conducted by DRR.
While six tonnes of yield was obtained per hectare from MCM 103, 5.5 tonnes was yielded with MCM-110. According to scientists, the yield from these two varieties are considerably higher in very normal soil. Scientist K. Nagendra Rao said MCM 103 is tested in saline fields present in costal districts of Andhra where Kharif season is ongoing. The other variety will be tested in Rabi season in the state.
The field to test these seeds was selected by the District Agricultural Advisory & Transfer of Technology Centre of the respective state in order to test the yield from these seed varieties from Kharif-2015. These paddy varieties requiring medium duration will boost the farmers to convert their saline soil fields into cultivable fields. These will in fact provide better yield.
All farmers feel grateful to Ms. Anuradha and Mr. Nagendra Rao who developed these seed varieties MCM 100 and 101 in the year 2011.
Approval from Andhra Pradesh State’s Seed Varietal Release Committee for the final release of these two new varieties of seeds is sought for now.
