Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Irrigated lowland

NSIC Rc216 (Tubigan 17) and NSIC Rc218 SR (Mabango 3) are the new varieties for irrigated lowland.

• Rc216 is an early maturing variety. It yields 6 t/ha and matures in 112 days when transplanted. Under direct wet-seeded condition, it yields 5.7 t/ha and matures in 104 days. It is moderately resistant to brown planthopper, green leafhopper, and yellow stem borer. It has good milling and headrice recovery. It is recommended not to grow Rc216 in tungro-stricken areas.
• Rc218, a special aromatic rice, yields 3.8 t/ha, matures in 120 days, and has good milling and headrice recovery. It is recommended to grow Rc218 in the dry season in a favorable environment.

The three-line hybrids released are NSIC Rc196H (Mestiso 16) and NSIC Rc198H (Mestiso 17). Both are resistant to white stem borer.

• Rc196H has an average yield of 6.2 t/ha and maturity of 103 days. It is highly acceptable in its cooked and raw forms. It is recommended to grow Rc196 in Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Cagayan, Bohol and Bukidnon, and similar areas.
• Rc198H yields 6.6 t/ha, matures in 105 days, and is best adapted to Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Cagayan, Davao del Sur, Bukidnon and Bohol, and similar areas.

Other hybrids NSIC Rc202H (Mestiso 19) and NSIC Rc204H (Mestiso 20) were bred in collaboration with the University of the Philippines Los Baños. These are the first two-line hybrids released in the Philippines.

• Rc202H yields 6.7 t/ha and matures in 110 days.
• Rc204H, on the other hand, yields 6.4 t/ha and matures in 111 days.
• Both have good milling and headrice recovery and are best adapted to Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Cagayan, Davao del Sur and Davao del Norte, General Santos, Bukidnon, and similar areas.

Hybrids can be best grown during the dry season helping them overcome their relatively weaker resistance to diseases like bacterial leaf blight and tungro, rice experts said.

Saline areas

• NSIC Rc184 (Salinas 2), Rc186 (Salinas 3), Rc188 (Salinas 4), Rc190 (Salinas 5) are the new varieties for saline areas. Rc184 yields 3.1 t/ha and matures in 120 days with resistance to blast and whiteheads. Rc186 yields 3.1 t/ha, matures in 115 days, and has good milling and headrice recovery. Rc188 and Rc190 yield 3.2 t/ha and 2.9 t/ha, respectively. Rc188 matures in 114 days, Rc190 in 120 days.

Flood-prone areas

• NSIC Rc194 (Submarino 1), on the other hand, was bred by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for flood-prone areas. Site evaluation of NSIC Rc194 was done in partnership with PhilRice.
• Rc194 is IR64 infused with submergence tolerance gene allowing it to survive, grow and develop even after 10 days of complete submergence at vegetative stage. It yields 2.5 t/ha and matures in 125 days under submerged conditions. Under normal conditions, it yields 3.5 t/ha and matures in 112 days. It also has good eating quality. Farmers are advised not to grow Rc194 in blast- and tungro-stricken areas.

Others

NSIC also released other varieties bred by other institutions such as IRRI, Bayer, Syngenta, and Pioneer. Released varieties for irrigated lowland are NSIC Rc212 (Tubigan 15), Rc214 (Tubigan 16), Rc220 SR (Japonica 1) and for hybrids are NSIC Rc200H (Mestiso 18), Rc206H (Mestiso 21), Rc208H (Mestiso 22) and Rc210H (Mestiso 23). NSIC Rc192 (Sahod Ulan 1) and NSIC Rc182 (Salinas 1) were released for drought-prone and saline areas, respectively.