New padi varieties to increase Malaysia’s food supply: Kiandee
Published on: Sunday, February 28, 2021
By: Bernama
Credit: Bernama.com
KEPALA BATAS: The Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) has produced two new padi varieties in an effort to increase the country’s food supply.Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee said the MR 315 and MRQ 104 to be commercially known as “Seri Waja” and “Kembangsari”, respectively, would provide more option for the farmers.
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He said both varieties were disease resistant and suitable for Malaysia’s weather and soil conditions.
“This is among Mardi’s strategies to produce high-impact varieties which will help increase the farmers’ income and the country’s rice production,” he said when announcing Mardi’s new padi varieties here.
He said the research cost for the padi varieties was almost RM5 million each, which took 10 to 12 years to complete.
Elaborating, Kiandee said the MR 315 variety was introduced to diversify padi genetics and reduce farmer’s dependency on monocropping while the MRQ 104 was to expand the local fragrant rice market.
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“The average yield of the MR 315 variety is up to nine tonnes per hectare while for the MRQ 104 variety, about five tonnes per hectare,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mardi also launched the variable rate technology, an accurate agricultural component for padi crops.
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Kiandee said the right agriculture technology could increase and encourage large-scale commercial operations.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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