UNB, Sherpur :Production of BRRI-dhan 63, a fine quality high-yielding rice variety newly developed by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), has raised great optimism among farmers in Sherpur as well as agricultural scientists, after it has been released to farmers for growing in Boro season.’Soru balam’ or BRRI-dhan 63 is thin and long like miniket rice and it has no aroma, BRRI sources said.The new high-yielding rice variety has raised rays of hope among farmers and scientists after its production of eight tonnes per hectare in the Boro session this year.The success will further increase interests among farmers in the greater Mymensingh region in the next Boro session, local farmers said.Recently, the BRRI cultivates eight high yielding varieties of rice on a test basis on three acres of land at Talki village in Nakla upazila of the district.Farmers harvested the paddy from the eight plots on trial basis in presence of high officials and agriculturists.Officials observed that the BRRI-63 produced around eight tonnes of rice in only 148 days, which takes little time than BRRI-28 and BRRI-29 and shows somewhat more production than that of the traditional rice.Farmer Gaziul Islam of the village said the rice of the BRRI-63 is fine and tall.Its price is more than coarse rice in the market, he said.Julhas Uddin, another farmer, said, “Many farmers expressed expectation to cultivate the paddy in the next session noticing my success.”The BRRI cultivators said the new high-yielding rice variety had been officially released to farmers in 2013 for growing from the next Boro season.The BBRI-63 was invented as hybrid between BRRI-dhan 28 and Iranian rice Amul-3 and it is possible to collect the paddy from the field within 145 to 148 days.It is highly productive in Boro season with an average yield potential of 7 to 7.5 metric tonne (MT) per hectare.The BRRI-63 is exportable for being fine quality high-yielding rice.Its market price will be double than coarse rice as the rice is beautiful and pearly-white, extra long and neat.The cultivators expected that the BRRI 63 will capture the place of BRRI 26, BRRI 28 and BRRI 29 in next Boro season as it has become popular this season.Chief agronomist of BRRI’s breeding department Dr Tomal Lata Aditaya, also breeder of BRRI-63, said “Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury has given us some rice of Amul-3 of Iran. The BRRI -63 was developed with making hybrid between BRRI-28 and Amul-3. We expect that it will contest with the traditional rice.”
