New padi varieties tackle weedy rice

A more resistant crop: Mohamad (left) inspecting the new Clearfield rice varieties at the Felcra Bhd Seed Centre, Seberang Perak. He is accompanied by Robert Upton, BASF head of business management South-East Asia. — Bernama

PASIR SALAK: The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry, through the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi), has introduced two new padi varieties to address the weedy rice issue in the country.

Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said the development of the new MR CL3 and MR CL4 varieties was the result of a strategic collaboration between Mardi and BASF (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd over the past 20 years.