New Rice Hybrid seed : Needs Min. Pesticide

Havesh Pradhan, a rice farmer from the Bargarh district in Odisha who has been cultivating rice on 8 acres of his land, cultivated Arize AZ 8433 DT in one acre of his land. Sharing his experience, he says: “Life would have been very good, had I been cultivating Arize AZ 8433 DT on my entire land.” Havesh had to incur a considerable yield loss on account of hopper damage in other varieties which he had grown. Despite four sprays; he had not been able to control BPH, whereas with Arize AZ 8433 DT, only one spray worked wonders.

Another farmer, Sumeru Ram Sahu from Dhamatari district of Chhattisgarh, cultivated Arize AZ 8433 DT in four acres of his land. “Even under such a heavy infestation, the tolerance exhibited by Arize AZ 8433 DT with one spray was nothing short of a miracle,” says Sahu.

Pradhan and Sahu’s story resonate with 5,000 other farmers who have experienced the success of Arize AZ 8433 DT in kharif 2017 and are now looking forward to a bumper rice harvest.

Bayer has launched a first-of-its-kind hybrid rice seed, Arize AZ 8433 DT with strong inbuilt tolerance to Brown Plant Hopper (BPH) and Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB). BPH is the most destructive pest in rice growing areas of India and caused huge losses to farmers in the 2017 kharif season.

Though there are many chemical solutions available to control BPH, these have not been able to control the insect effectively in cases of medium to heavy infestation. The usual practice is to spray when the insect build-up has already happened. As an alternative approach, Bayer has developed hybrid seeds, where pest tolerance has been achieved in the seed through innovative technologies based on marker-assisted breeding. The result is Arize AZ 8433 DT.

"Rice is a staple food crop for majority of India and a key focus crop for Bayer's Crop Science business in India. Bayer has been working closely with rice farmers to improve rice yields and quality through its innovative hybrid seeds, crop protection products and integrated crop management solutions,” says Peter Mueller, Head of the Crop Science division at Bayer South Asia. "The introduction of Arize AZ 8433 DT is another step towards improving rice productivity in India. Since its launch, the cultivation of Arize AZ 8433 DT has expanded to more than 10,000 acres in major rice growing belts of the country,” adds Peter Mueller.

In the event of a BPH and BLB attack, Arize AZ 8433 DT from Bayer offers a yield advantage of upto 20 to 30 percent over other susceptible open-pollinated varieties (OPVs), where yield losses could be upto 100 percent. Besides superior yield attributes, another advantage of cultivating Arize AZ 8433 DT includes a significant saving on pesticide application.

A single round of spraying pesticides costs Rs. 500-600 per acre. Even with moderate infestation, rice farmers spray three to four times, depending on the incidence of BPH. With Arize AZ 8433 DT, farmers are advised to scout their fields periodically and go for one spray, only if the BPH count exceeds economic threshold levels, or if hopper burn damage is observed in adjoining fields. However, farmers will have to use pesticides for other pests such as Whitebacked Plant Hopper (WBPH) and Stem Borer etc.

About Bayer: Science For A Better Life

 Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2016, the Group employed around 99,600 people and had sales of EUR 34.9 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.2 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.4 billion. For more information, go to www.bayer.com