Seed council releases new rice varieties

The National Seed Industry Council has released new rice varieties that had been bred by the Philippine Rice Research Institute. The new rice varieties are early-maturing and are of good quality, according to PhilRice.

These include Tubigan 22 (NSIC Rc240), Malagkit 5 (NSIC Rc21 SR), and Mestiso 29 (NSIC Rc2444H) for irrigated lowland farms; Sahod-Ulan 2 (NSIC Rc272) and Sahod-Ulan 10 (NSIC Rc288) fofr rainfed areas; and, Salinas 6 (NSIC Rc290), Salinas 7 (NSIC Rc292) and Salinas 8 (NSIC Rc294) for saline-prone areas.

The new varieties mature in 108 to 122 days and yield from 3 to 11 tons per hectare. These also have premium to excellent milling and head rice recoveries and good eating quality.

The PhilRice-bred varieties are part of the 32 new rice varieties approved for release by NSIC and were bred by UP Los Banos, IRRI, and private seed companies.

Some of the new rice varieties are available in Western Visayas. In Aklan, for example, PIA-Aklan reported earlier that selected farmers in the municipality of Kalibo are set to plant the new varieties of rice seeds including NSIC Rc240 from June to October of this year to test the qualities of these new varieties. - PIA — ARA