Most of the old rice varieties, except BRRI dhan 29, are outperforming in terms of per-hectare yield than the new ones developed by the state-run research agencies.
A study showed on Thursday that BRRI-92, a high-yielding variety (HYV) of Boro season, yielded the highest 7.71 tonnes of paddy in the 2020 Boro season.
Among long-duration rice varieties, the newly-developed BRRI-89 and 92 are giving the highest yields, it said.
Among short-period varieties, BRRI-67, 81, 84 and 88 give the best yield than the most popular BRRI-28 rice variety of Boro season.
The findings of the joint research by BRRI (Bangladesh Rice Research Institute) and IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) were made public at a workshop.
The event on 'Result Sharing and Planning of Head to Head Adaptive Trial' of rice varieties was co-hosted by IRRI and BRRI at BRRI headquarters in Gazipur.
The trials desire for identification of rice varieties with best yield performance under different conditions that can improve farmers' productivity and profit.
The research shows old BRRI-29 was the second best performers with 7.48 tonnes in the 2020 Bro season. New BRRI-89 also gave a good 7.40 tonnes.
The 67 variety's yield was below 7.0 tonnes per hectare.
BRRI-29's performance in terms of yield was still good but it was found vulnerable to neck blast, it claims.
Among short-duration varieties, BRRI-88 yielded highest 6.5 tonnes per hectare followed by BRRI-67 with 6.4 tonnes, 81 with 6.17 tonnes in 2020.
BRRI-28 brought only 5.6 tonnes per hectare in the areas covered by the research, according to the report.
For Aman season, BRRI-79 can perform well in a flash flood-prone environment.
Additionally, BRRI-93, 94 and 95 are highly preferable in the northern part of Bangladesh as an alternative to the Indian rice variety of Swarna.
BRRI-87 had the best yield performance all over the country in Aman season with 6.02 tonnes per hectare yield in 2019 Boro season in sampling areas.
The findings of the BRRI part were presented by Dr Md Humayun Kabir, chief scientific officer and head of Adaptive Research Division, says a press release.
The IRRI part was presented by Dr Swati Nayak, IRRI scientist and South Asia lead at Seed System and Product Management.
BRRI director general Dr Md Shahjahan Kabir was the chief guest at the event chaired by BRRI director Dr Mohammad Khalequzzaman.
BRRI director Dr Md Abu Bakr Siddique and IRRI project lead Dr Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, among others, also spoke.
The research has identified rice varieties with best yield performance for both Aman and Boro seasons after rigorous on-farm trials to compare different varieties.
Once disseminated for cultivation, officials concerned hope, these varieties will help increase rice farmers' yield and profit.
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