ANGELES CITY- The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) has enjoined Luzon farmers to plant four high-yielding rice varieties to maximize productivity in low-land areas.
In a message during the recent Lakbay-Palay or Farmers’ Field Day, PhilRice executive director Eufemio Rasco Jr. urged farmers to plant rice varieties Tubigan 22 (NSIC Rc240), Malagkit 5 (NSIC Rc21SR), Mestiso 29 (NSIC Rc244H), and Mestiso 38 (NSIC Rc262H).
He said these varieties could yield a maximum of six to 11 tons per hectare.
“Multi-location yield testing showed that Tubigan 22 has an average yield of about six tons per hectare. It has yield potential of about 11 tons per hectare when transplanted and about eight tons per hectare as direct-seeded rice,” he said.
He noted that Tubigan 22 variety matures in 108 days when direct-seeded and 115 days when transplanted and that “it is resistant to blast, sheath blight, bacterial leaf blight, and white stem borer.”
Rasco said that on the other hand, Malagkit 5, which he described as “a good yielding glutinous variety,” can yield seven tons per hectare maximum.
“It matures in 122 days and has moderate resistance to whiteheads, brown planthopper, green leaf hopper, and yellow stem borer. It is also slightly aromatic when cooked,” he added.
“You might also want to try hybrid rice because under good conditions, its yield is 27 percent higher than inbred,” Rasco told farmers during the Field Day gathering held in Munoz, Nueva Ecija.
He stressed that “Mestiso 29, a variety with resistance to white and yellow stem borers, brown planthopper, and green leafhopper, registered an average yield of seven tons per hectare and a maximum yield of 11 tons per hectare and matures in 113 days.”
Meanwhile, Rasco also said that the Mestiso 38 variety “is suitable in areas usually infested with blast, bacterial leaf blight, and white stem borer and it matures in 114 days and could yield as high as 10 tons per hectare.”
“You might have noticed rice plants with thicker culms when you went around our experimental fields. These are new hybrid rice varieties being developed, which would hopefully, bring 24 percent higher yield than other hybrid,” Rasco stressed.
Lakbay-Palay is conducted annually for farmers who visit PhilRice and learn about the latest on rice research and technology.
