CRRI develops two high-yielding rice varieties

The Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), Cuttack, has developed two new high-yielding varieties of rice and is awaiting the central committee's nod for commercial launch of the two varieties.

CRRI developed a new rice variety with good grain quality and suitable for cultivation in India's low lying and rain-fed areas.

The new variety gives yields of 3.5 to 4.0 tonnes per hectare, against the less than 2.0 tonnes yield that current varieties like IR-64 and PR-106 give, T K Adhya, director of CRRI, said, adding, this strain is likely to be named `CR Dhan-500'.

The other strain is an aromatic variety `CR Dhan-901', which has been developed from `Chinikamini', a popular land rice cultivated in Southern Odisha. This too, has an yield potential of 3.5 tonnes per hectare.

"These varieties can give a yield of 3.5 to 4.0 tonnes per hectare having duration of 150 to 155 days," Adhya said.

With over a million hectares of low lying and rainfed areas under rice, the new varieties have the potential to raise the country's rice production by an average 2 million tonnes a year.