A new rice variety suitable for sodic soil conditions, developed by the Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute (ADACRI) at Navalur Kuttapattu in Tiruchi, has been released by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU).
The new short duration variety, named TRY 5, has been found better than TRY 2, the existing early duration variety suited for salt affected soil which was brought out by the college in 2002, P. Masilamani, Dean, ADACRI, said. The college had also brought out TRY 3 and TRY 4, which were medium duration varieties.
Dr. Masilamani pointed out that selection of a suitable variety played a critical role in getting good yield, especially in problematic soils. Currently, farmers were cultivating short duration varieties, which were not much suitable for salt-affected tracts, during kuruvai and navarai seasons. There was a need to develop a short duration variety which would also be of good cooking quality.
“Besides, farmers get seeds at subsidised rate of varieties notified within 10 years only. Since they are no longer able to get subsidised seeds for TRY 2, there was a need bring out a new variety,” Dr.Masilamani told The Hindu .
In order to cater to the needs of farmers, the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics of ADACRI had taken up research on developing a short duration sodicity tolerant and high yielding rice variety, he said.
Following mutation breeding, the promising rice variety of TRY 5 was developed, which is well suited for kuruvai / navarai seasons of Tamil Nadu. The crop matures in 110-115 days with an average grain yield of 5100 kg per hectare (ha) with an advantage of 12.64 per cent grain yield over TRY 2. The variety is moderately resistant to blast and brown leaf spot diseases and pests such as brown plant hopper, green leaf hopper and white backed plant hopper.
“The rice is long and slender. The cooked rice of this variety is non sticky, soft with good flavour and taste and suitable for batter. The variety has been approved by Tamil Nadu State Variety Release Committee, following which the TNAU released it as a Pongal gift,” Dr.Masilamani said.
Published - January 20, 2022 05:44 pm IST
