Bangladesh releases biotech rice

Scientists in Bangladesh have developed the country's first biotech rice variety, giving farmers an answer to difficulties they face in harvesting the staple with machines.

Stems of BRRI Dhan-86, a variety that secured official release approval on Wednesday, prove to be strong and stout and easy to reap by mechanical harvesters.

This, according to scientists, will come handy to farm owners, who suffer from dearth of farm labourers and also find it hard to use harvesters.

BRRI breeders told UNB that the new variety having half tonnes of extra yield potential over the country's most produced rice variety BRRI Dhan-28 is derived from Iranian rice variety Niamat through application of a biotech tool called - anther culture.

Anther culture, applied for the first time in rice science in Bangladesh, is a biotech plant culturing technique where immature pollens are made to divide and grow into tissues either on solid and liquid medium.

The scientists at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) have also developed a new rice variety having highest ever zinc (27.6 mg/kg) content. The variety - BRRI Dhan-84 - also got approval along with three more new rice varieties on Wednesday.

In 2013, Bangladesh released the world's first bio-fortified zinc-rich rice variety BRRI Dhan-62 with 19 mg/kg of the micronutrient. Since then countries scientists at BRRI and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) have, so far, developed six zinc-rich rice varieties with the latest one being the richest with high in zinc content.

BRRI scientists told UNB that BRRI Dhan-84 is also moderately enriched with another key micronutrient - iron.

Zinc deficiency causes stunting, while iron deficiency is a leading cause of anaemia. More than one-third of under-five children in Bangladesh are stunted, while more than 43 per cent women of reproductive age are anaemic.

A meeting of the National Seed Board (NSB) held in the city on Wednesday with the agriculture ministry secretary in the chair also gave its nod to short-duration transplanted Aus variety - BRRI Dhan-82, broadcast Aus variety BRRI Dhan-83 and another rice variety - BRRI Dhan-85, which can withstand stagnant water.

Talking to UNB BRRI research director Tamal Lata Aditya said both the biotech rice and the zinc-rich rice will be good supplements to Boro-season mega variety - BRRI Dhan-28. Both of the new ones have higher yield potentials of varying degrees comparing to BRRI Dhan-28.

The new varieties come at a time when two of the country's most common rice varieties -- BRRI Dhan-28 and BRRI Dhan-29 -- released back in 1994, are losing potential due to ageing.

The prospect of higher rice yield through the release of the new varieties also comes against the backdrop of diminishing returns from the country's rice fields.

A recent International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) report says Bangladesh's rice production growth slowed down to just 0.7 per cent in five years (2012-16), whereas the growth was as high as 4.8 per cent in the preceding five years (2007-11).

Akhter Ahmed, country head of the Washington-based food research think tank IFPRI, said, "Rice production more than tripled since the country's liberation [in 1971], but the [agricultural] growth is slowing down."

He observed that the most popular rice varieties in Bangladesh are old and they require better replacements so that farmers can reap more yield from less land and go for agricultural diversity by growing other high value crops.

Akhter put emphasis on the agricultural extension service's role in demonstrating and popularising the new potential rice varieties among the farmers. As a third of Bangladesh's total farm households are of pure tenants -- who work in lands owned by others -- it's very crucial for the state to take extension services to them, he added.

Md Sazzadur Rahman, a prominent young rice scientist, explained to UNB that application of biotech tool helped the BRRI scientists to come up with a potential rice variety, which otherwise could take much longer time had the conventional breeding applied.

With the five varieties those got approval today, the number of BRRI-developed rice varieties now stands at 91. Among them, one is biotech rice, six are hybrids while the rest are high yielding inbred varieties (HYVs).

Brri-developed rice varieties cover more than 80 per cent of the total rice areas of the country. These varieties account for more than 91 per cent of the country's total 35 million tonnes of rice production.

The farm sector contributes about 17 per cent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and employs more than 45 per cent of the total labour force.

Currently, nearly 75 per cent of the total 7.84 million hectares of arable land is being used to produce rice, thanks to land scarcity and people's rice-centric dietary habit.