TNAU to Release New Pest Resistant Variety of Rice before Pongal

N Kumar, the Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agriculture University announced TNAU is all set to release a new variety of Rice similar to BPT before Pongal. This variety will be of superior quality with pest resistance, he told. 

“The new variety would be of fine grain with good cooking quality along with pest & disease resistance and will be released before Pongal Festival” he added.  

Crop Loss in Rice cultivation: 

Rice is a major cash crop with India being the second-largest producer of rice in the world. It is mostly cultivated in the states of Assam, West Bengal and Odisha. India has approximately 44 million hectares of land under rice cultivation but its production is largely affected by pests, insects and disease attacks.

It is estimated that the rice yield suffers a loss of about 31% due to the above-mentioned reasons. The new variety of rice will be very helpful in reducing the loss percentage in Rice Crops.  

The Global Rice Conference 

Around 350 scientists from various organizations across the country participated in the two-day Global Rice Conference jointly organized by the TNAU and the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT) in Thanjavur.  

The scientists discussed crop management & improvement at the meet and are presenting about 300 research papers. Kumar said though the government is keen on expanding the area of cultivation every year, it faces challenges like drought, submergence, pests & disease. 

Scientists discussed the introduction of tolerant varieties and adopting new technologies at the conference. 

About TNAU: 

TNAU has been significantly contributing to rice research by giving 27% weightage to it among all its research programmes. The university has played a major role in developing high-yielding varieties of rice and introducing and popularizing varieties since 1960 as part of green revolution.