Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku (RRI-KSK) has claimed to develop a new Basmati variety called 'Super Basmati 2019' having over 10 per cent more per acre yield against the existing varieties and Average Grain Length (AGL) of 7.6 mm.
RRI Kala Shah Kaku officials shared this with stakeholders of Rice value chain at the 14th meeting of the Rice Research & Development Board held at its facility the other day with the Board Chairman Sarfraz Ahmed Khan in the chair, sources privy to the meeting told Business Recorder here on Saturday.
Director RRI-KSK Dr Muhammad Sabar while sharing various activities of the facility disclosed that two new basmati varieties - 'Super Basmati 2019 and Basmati Gold' - developed by the institute have got approval while three spot lines are under pipeline for approval. He also shared the samples of Super Basmati 2019 with the participants for tests & trials.
Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) Chairman Shahjahan Malik shared the international rice trade statistics with the participants of the meeting. He said that the rice export is showing upward trend during last two years and informed the meeting that basmati export quantity wise registered 28 per cent increase during the year 2018-19 as compared to corresponding period and hoped that it will go further up in the current year.
The agenda of the meeting was to discuss the current scenario of rice crop and Director Rice RRI-KSK Muhammad Sabar informed the house that according to the Crop Reporting data, area under rice cultivation was even higher than the projected target.
Area under rice in 2019-20 remained 5,014 thousand acres, which is about 9 per cent higher than the set target of 4,618 thousand acres.
He further briefed the house that rice crop particularly in Sindh and Southern Punjab is affected due to the climate change and increase in day/ night temperature at flowering stage this year, which caused sterility/low grain formation in rice. He also disclosed that research and development activities regarding heat stress resilient varieties development is already in the progress. However, he said that high temperature affect spikelet fertility at the time of anthesis which also deteriorates quality of the grain. To combat this issue, farmers are advised to follow variety specific sowing time and avoid early sowing, because it has been observed in early sown varieties which flower before 20th September show more sterility due to higher temperature than timely shown varieties.
The meeting also discussed stubble management of rice crop through mechanization i.e., rice harvester, paddy straw chopper and happy seeder. While Seed Association of Pakistan (SAP) representative shared that aflatoxin issue arises when crop is harvested with combine harvester and moisture level is also high. The meeting noticed that no serious threat and issues were pointed out this year as far as pest and disease situation of rice crop is concerned.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
Comments
Comments are closed.