New hybrid rice variety successfully tested in Tabuk City

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Once more proving that the setting of Tabuk City is suited for hybrid rice production, the newest hybrid rice variety released by the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC) has been found to be adaptable to the conditions in the locality.
Gracia Amar, senior science research specialist (SSRS) of the Philrice, informed the media that the maturing M20 (NSIC Rc204H) crop planted in the farm of Rodolfo Apil in barangay Bulo has an average of 332 filled grains with only 14 unfilled grains per panicle and is hoped to eventually yield seven to nine tons per hectare.
She said this is already good considering that the average inbred variety produce in the area is five tons per hectare.
Amar said that according to earlier experiments, the variety which was bred by the Philrice and the University of the Philippines in Los Banos, Laguna could produce as much as 12 tons.
She said that the new variety is being promoted in selected areas in the country starting this cropping season.
Amar who conducted the Science and Technology-based Farm on Rice (STBFR) season long training for Bulo farmers part of which was the testing of the M20 said that the variety has 14-17 tillers per plant and has long panicles.
She said that after the experimental planting, the trainees could promote the variety to other farmers in the locality and that those interested could avail of the seeds from the Philrice at P195.00 per kilo.
In addition to the testing of the M20, during the same training, the A-line of the M20 has also been successfully tried in the city.
SSRS Democrito Rebong II explained that the M20 is the first two-line hybrid rice variety bred in the country and needs a cold place to produce the A-line seeds.
Rebong said that other existing hybrid rice varieties in the country are the three-line type where the production of seeds is done in two stages: the A and B lines are cross-pollinated to produce the A-line which will then be cross-pollinated with the R-line to produce the seeds for commercialization.
With the M20, the A-line seeds are produced by planting them in place where the temperature is at least 22 degrees Celsius during the stage 3 of the panicle initiation and cross pollinating them to its R-line to produce the seeds for commercialization, Rebong said.
“The process of producing A-line seeds in a two-line variety is simple, shorter, cheaper and less laborious as cross-pollination is no longer required. No. b-lines are needed. All you need to do is look for a cool place,” Rebong said.
Saying that there are only three other places in the country where the M20 A-line was planted this season, Rebong expressed surprise that Tabuk with its relatively low altitude of only 220 meters above sea level has the right temperature for the plant.
He said that based on the maturing stand of the experimental crop, the conservative estimated yield of the A-line seeds per hectare is one to two tons which is way above the one ton average seed yield for the three-line types of hybrid varieties.
He added that based on the price of the A-line seeds of the three-line hybrid varieties, the A-line seeds of the M20 could fetch P750.per kilo.
He, however, said that before mass production of the M20 A-line seeds, the Philrice will still await the formulation of guidelines for seed production of the variety from the Bureau of Plant Industry and the National Seed Quality Standards considering that the two-line hybrid rice is a new development in the country.
Twenty-three trainees graduated from the Bulo STBFR which was jointly sponsored by the Philrice and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development.
Amar said that pest management was the emphasis of the training which also touched on proper water management and scientific fertilizer application.
Government agencies and private companies involved in the production of hybrid rice seeds and commercial hybrid rice are one in saying that this city is one of the best places in the country to grow hybrid rice whether for seed or commercial purposes. **