The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : UAS scientist develops first drought tolerant rice

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 17, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

UAS scientist develops first drought tolerant rice

Divya Gandhi

MAS 946-1 saves 60 per cent of water

The variety was released after trials in three districts
It saves 3,000 litres of water for every kg of rice

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Helping farmers: Shailaja Hittalmani, who developed the drought-tolerant aerobic rice.

Bangalore: A new variety of rice developed at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, called MAS 946-1, has become the first drought-tolerant aerobic rice to be officially released in the country.

Developed through a DNA Marker Assisted Selection, this variety of rice consumes up to 60 per cent less water than traditional varieties, and will become the benchmark for all other aerobic rice varieties that await release, according to P.G. Chengappa, Vice-Chancellor, UAS.

This fast growing, short duration, deep rooted rice is the product of five years of research by a team led by Shailaja Hittalmani, Professor of Genetics and Plant Breeding, UAS, Bangalore, with funding from the International Rice Research Institute and the Rockefeller Foundation.

MAS 946 was officially released by UAS in April, after trials in three districts of the southern dry tract — Kolar, Bangalore and Tumkur — where water is scarce with annual rainfall nearly half the State’s average of 1200 mm.

Having crossed a hardy, deep-rooted upland japonica rice from the Phillippines with a high yielding indica, the new MAS 946 has adapted to sparing surface irrigation, saving 3,000 litres of water for every kg, said Dr. Hittalmani. The yield, at 55 quintals per hectare, is comparable with conventional varieties.

“Much of the 5,000 litres conventionally used to produce just one kg of rice is wasted,” she explains. “Rice really does not need six inches of standing water for its survival. This water serves a different purpose altogether, and that is to control weeds by providing an anaerobic environment.”

B.K. Ramachandrappa, Associate Director of Research and irrigation agronomist with UAS, explained that unlike their well-fed counterparts, aerobic rice learns to make the most of soil moisture. “With irrigation provided only every five to seven days, the roots grow deeper and more profusely: while conventional rice varieties have relatively shallow roots of 5 inches, this one can grow over one metre deep and one foot wide,” he said.

The new variety also demands new cultivation practices. “Sowing is done on virtually dry soil, and nurseries are not required, saving 20 per cent of the intensive labour normally needed to transplant saplings and prepare soil for conventional wetland paddy,” says Dr. Hittalmani. The only potential problem could be weeds, “the number one enemy of rice” that would normally be deterred by standing water, according to Dr. Hittalmani. “This can be tackled through loosening the soil, or through weedicides.” There is another advantage to avoiding submergence: “Because they are not submerged, the roots are open to oxygen, preventing fungal and bacterial attacks,” she says.

“Cultivators in these dry zone districts, who used to grow paddy until 15 years ago and switched over to chillies and cash crops with diminishing water supplies, can think about returning to rice,” said Dr. Hittalmani. Another aerobic variety, MAS-26 is in the pipeline, she added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka