The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) said it is has successfully bred two new pest-resistant rice hybrid varieties that could increase farmer’s income by reducing their yield loss.
PhilRice, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture, said it has bred two rice hybrid lines have shown outstanding yield and resistance to bacterial leaf blight (BLB) disease.
“Most of the previously released hybrid rice varieties lack sufficient resistance to bacterial leaf blight, one of the common rice-plant diseases that can cause a yield loss of 70 percent,” PhilRice Hybrid Project Leader Joanne D. Caguiat said in a recent news statement.
The first hybrid line called PR40640H, which was an improved version of the Mestiso 3 (M3), was incorporated with Xa21, a gene that exhibits resistance to BLB, according to PhilRice.
“Based on the evaluation, this hybrid is resistant to most BLB isolates in the country compared with M3,” the attached agency of the DA said.
Meanwhile, the other hybrid line, which was called PR47216H, exhibited an average yield of 9.6 metric tons (MT) per hectare, 5.6 mt/hectare more than the national average yield of 4 mt/hectare, according to PhilRice, adding that the yield performance shown by PR47216H was 22.24 percent and 31.06 percent higher compared with Mestiso 19 and PSB Rc82, respectively.
“PR40640H will soon be submitted to the National Cooperative Test [NCT], while PR47216H is currently being tested for multilocation trials. NCT evaluates rice lines in terms of yield, pest and disease resistance, and grain quality across locations,” PhilRice said.
“As soon as these lines pass the NCT, they will be recommended for registration at the National Seed Industry Council, which approves the release of rice varieties,” PhilRice added.