IRRI Develops 3 New Rice Varieties for the PhilippinesThree new rice varieties bred by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have been officially recommended for commercial cultivation in the Philippines. They were field tested and evaluated by the Rice Varietal Improvement Group through the National Cooperative Testing (NCT) program of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). "The Rice Technical Working Group of the National Seed Industry Council will now recommend the varieties for official approval, which is expected to occur sometime in late 2009," said Ms. Thelma Padolina, NCT national coordinator at PhilRice. Each variety was designed to be flood- tolerant, drought- tolerant, and salt-tolerant, respectively. "Rice-growing land that has limited productivity will become more productive when these new rice varieties are used – this will help Filipino farmers produce more rice," said Dr. David Mackill, program leader and plant breeder at IRRI. For additional information contact Sophie Clayton at s.clayton@cgiar.org
This article is part of the Crop Biotech Update, a weekly summary of world developments in agri-biotech for developing countries, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Aquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA) View Crop Biotech Update (
June 5, 2009
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