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.
“MR CL3 and MR CL4 mature earlier, at 99 days, and have a yield potential of over seven tonnes per hectare,” he said during the launch of the new Clearfield padi varieties at the Felcra Bhd Seed Centre here.
Also present were ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Isham Ishak; Perak Rural Development, Plantation, Agriculture and Food Industry Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Zolkafly Harun; Mardi Governing Board chairman Dr Azman Ismail; and Mardi director-general Datuk Dr Mohamad Zabawi Abdul Ghani.
Mohamad said both varieties are also resistant to leaf and neck blast diseases and can be utilised under current KPKM initiatives, such as the five padi planting seasons in two years programme and the Large-Scale SMART Padi Field (SMART SBB) programme.
As for the commercialisation of the new varieties, he said it would be carried out through the Clearfield Production System, which includes padi varieties, imidazolinone herbicide (Trek) and stewardship guidelines, to tackle the weedy rice issue.
Mohamad added that the MR CL3 and MR CL4 varieties were specifically bred to be resistant to imidazolinone herbicides, Bernama reported.
Weedy rice, also known as “padi angin” in Malaysia, is a problematic weed that can significantly reduce crop yields.
Earlier, Mohamad also officiated the launch of the new Integrated Agricultural Development Area Complex in Seberang Perak.
