LAHORE – Farmers in Sindh and South Punjab are all set to get a new heat-resistant hybrid rice variety with high yield potential during the next season after the completion of its successful commercial trial in Larkana.
Yuan Longping High-Tech, a leading Chinese agricultural company and Guard Agricultural Research & Services (Pvt) Limited have conducted a successful commercial trial of their 14th Hybrid Rice variety In Sindh.
Compared to the previous varieties, the new one has the potential for more yield besides it is resistant to heat and lodging.
“The new variety has more yield potential. It is also heat tolerant which will help cope with the challenges posed by high temperatures and prolong summers. In collaboration with Yuan Longping High-Tech, we trialed this new variety for three years. Now, it will be available for commercial plantation from the next season,” said Momin Ali Malik, Guard’s Seed Division Executive while talking to a group of journalists.
Journalists from Lahore also visited Larkana along with the Chinese and local scientists and witnessed the new variety near harvest.
Mr Tai, a representative of Yuan Longping High-Tech, said that it was the 14th variety being introduced with the Sino-Pak collaboration. He said that the new variety has more yield potential than the previous ones.
“Previous varieties have increased the production from 60-70 to 120 maunds per acre. The new variety is heat tolerant with the yield potential of more than 150 maunds per acre,” he said.
Guard started introducing hybrid rice technology to farmers in Sindh in the early 2000s after years of research and field trials in collaboration with China’s Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture company.
The efforts helped double per acre rice yield and boosted the farmers’ income leading to the alleviation of poverty in the rice-growing areas of Sindh and Southern Punjab.
