15 climate-smart rice varieties transferred to PhilRice for dissemination to farmers

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines—Better access to improved, quality rice seed is essential for farmers to raise their productivity, particularly under unpredictable weather patterns due to climate change.

On 12 August, the Next-Gen Project, Accelerating the development and adoption of next-generation rice varieties for the major ecosystems in the Philippines, turned over the seed of 15 climate-smart rice varieties to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). These included 1,005 kg of foundation seed of 14 varieties suitable for irrigated, rainfed, submergence, saline, and upland ecosystems.

Also transferred were 10 kg of NSIC Rc222 breeder seed to replace the current stock at PhilRice. NSIC Rc222 is a popular high-yielding variety developed at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The seed will be used for producing registered seeds to speed up introduction of the newly released climate-smart rice varieties in targeted environments, including marginal areas, to raise farmers’ yield. 

Dr. Georgina Vergara (left in photo), Next-Gen Project lead and scientist at IRRI, handed over the seed to Ms. Thelma Padolina of PhilRice. 

The Next-Gen Project is an initiative under the Food Staples Sufficiency Program of the Philippine Department of Agriculture. It utilizes advances in plant breeding methodologies and stratified multi-environment testing to speed up the development and field testing of new high-yielding inbred and hybrid rice varieties with multiple resistance/tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Through high-quality seed production, the good quality seed is multiplied and immediately made available to farmers.

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Drought-tolerant Sahod Ulan 6 is farmers’ top pick in Davao Del Sur rice evaluation

MAGSAYSAY, DAVAO DEL SUR, Philippines—Sahod Ulan 6, a drought-tolerant rice variety developed at the world’s leading rice research center, received high scores for its characteristics from farmers in Magsaysay during an evaluation of six new rice varieties.

Sahod Ulan 6 topped five other varieties where 32 farmers rated each one based on their preference and sensory evaluation of uncooked and cooked rice as part of a participatory varietal selection (PVS) activity in the province. Grown under rainfed conditions in Magsaysay, the six varieties were evaluated for their field performance, appearance of milled grains, and sensory features. Sahod Ulan 6 (NSIC Rc280) ranked first in aroma, taste, aroma, texture, color, gloss, and cohesiveness.  It also ranked first in three other sensory trials in Davao del Sur.

Sahod Ulan 6 was developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for rainfed lowland areas. Released in 2011, the variety can produce yields of up to 5.6 tons per hectare. It matures in 123 days and is moderately resistant to white stem borer and yellow stem borer.

The sensory tests,  held on 31 March, were conducted by the project, Accelerating the development and adoption of next-generation (NextGen) rice varieties for major ecosystems in the Philippines. NextGen promotes the farmers’ adaptation of high-yielding rice varieties suitable for each local ecosystem. The project is an initiative under the Food Staples Sufficiency Program of the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) and is being implemented jointly by IRRI, the Philippine Rice Research Institute, and local DA-Regional Field Offices.

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