Agriculture ministry to introduce 14 new paddy varieties

he Agriculture Ministry will release at least 14 new paddy varieties in the coming months to anticipate the global warming phenomenon, Minister Anto Apriyantono said here Monday.

"The new paddy varieties are now in a nursing process. They will be able to survive in arid conditions and remain good in flood waters for two weeks," he said.

The frequency at which new paddy varieties were released in 2005-2007 was low but the Agriculture Ministry was now planning to introduce 14 new varieties this year, he said.

Indonesian farmers had until now been acquainted with a total of 287 paddy varieties which consisted of 189 varieties produced by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), 13 by the National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) and 25 by the private sector.

The Agriculture Ministry had so far released 31 selected hybrid paddy varieties whose yields were 10-25 percent higher than those of non-hybrid paddy types.

The 31 prime hybrid paddy varieties comprised 6 varieties produced by the Paddy Research Center and the remaining 25 varieties by the private sector.

The Agriculture Ministry`s research and development agency had established that the new hybrid paddy varieties had yielded 7.35 tons of dried unhurled paddy (GKG) per hectare or 16.5 percent more than non-hybrid paddy.(*)