New Tropical Hybrid Rice Yields High
A new tropical hybrid rice which was introduced last year has been proven to produce high yield under local conditions.
This is the TH-82 Hybrid Rice which was developed by US Agriseeds and distributed locally by Jardine Distribution, Inc. (JDI). Bobet Littaua, JDI product manager, said that in many cases, farmers who planted the new variety got 30 to 50 percent yield increase over previous varieties that they planted.
Littaua said that TH-82 adapts well to local conditions because the variety was developed using tropical germplasms. He added that TH-82 is unlike earlier hybrid rice varieties that were developed using parent lines from temperate countries.
TH-82 is claimed to perform well even during the wet season. It is resistant to lodging since the rice plants are sturdy enough to carry the weight of longer panicles with more filled grains. When rice plants lodge, yield is reduced significantly.
Littaua believes that the national average yield of around 75 cavans per hectare can be doubled to at least 150 cavans with the use of TH-82. This could help increase the country’s rice supply as well as boost the incomes of rice farmers.