A farmer works on his saltwater-hit rice area in the Mekong Delta. (Photo: VNA)Can Tho (VNA) – The Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (CLDRRI) has introduced 20 of its newly developed crossbred rice varieties, proven to be high-yielding, and disease- and pest-resistant for export purposes.
According to Dang Thi Tho from the CLDRRI, six of them – OM 108, OM 284, OM 232, OM 9921, OM 9915 and OM Nep 406 – are strongly resistant to salinity, suitable to be cultivated in coastal and saltwater-hit areas across the Mekong Delta this dry season.
OM 108 was created by cross-breeding OM 6976 and NPT8 with average outputs of 8.16 tonnes of rice per hectare for Winter-Spring crops and 5.2 tonnes of rice per hectare for Summer-Autumn crops. It generally takes the variety 95 to 100 days from planting to harvest.
Meanwhile, OM 284 was crossbred by OM 7642 and OM 1490, which matures in 100 to 105 days. It has average yields of 7.2 to 9.3 tonnes of rice per hectare for Winter-Spring crops and 5.7 to 6.4 tonnes of rice per hectare for Summer-Autumn crops.
Nguyen Van Tao from the CLDRRI said the new saline-tolerant rice varieties will be used in dozens of hectares during the Summer-Autumn crops this year to produce seeds for larger production across the region next season.
Many parts of the Mekong Delta are suffering the brunt of saltwater intrusion, which was sparked by the El Nino impacts.-VNA
