Anisul Islam Noor :
The farmers of Bangladesh can produce high zinc enriched rice capable of fighting diarrhoea and pneumonia-induced childhood deaths and stunting. The rice varieties have been developed by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) through application of biological fortification, sources said.
The National Seed Board (NSB) has released high yielding BRRI dhan-64 recently. High-zinc rice BRRI dhan-62 released late 2013 contains around 19 to 20 parts per million (ppm) zinc against 14 to 16 ppm in other high-yielding rice varieties. However, newly released rice breed contains zinc as high as 25 ppm, sources said.
A year after releasing the world’s first zinc-enriched rice variety BRRI-62, Bangladeshi breeders have come up with BRRI-64 rice variety with higher zinc content and greater yield potentials.
The BRRI breeders developed the high-zinc rice varieties with support from HarvestPlus, a global biofortification mission launched back in 2004 under the Washington-based global agro-science coordinating body Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research.
India lags behind as Bangladeshi breeders have already succeeded in developing two hi-zinc rice varieties – one (Brri dhan-62) for
Aman season and the other (Brri dhan-64) for Boro season.
HarvestPlus Director Howarth E Bouis said that India expected to come up with some high-zinc rice varieties in two years.
As per the mandate of the international collaboration, the zinc-enriched rice varieties developed in Bangladesh are likely to reach Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Some 27 countries including Bangladesh have so far released different biofortified crops and more are going to join the bandwagon. Some of the other biofortified crops released in other countries include iron-enriched beans and pear millets, zinc-rich wheat and vitamin-A-enriched cassava, maize and sweet potato.
HarvestPlus is spending $10 million for zinc-rice programme between 2013 and 2018, said Md Khairul Bashar, Bangladesh Country Manager.
“We are planning to reach out to half a million households by 2016 with commercialised zinc-rice seeds. The long-term objective is to develop sustainable markets for zinc-enriched seeds and grain, reaching a market share of over three percent of rice by 2018,” Bashar said.
The farmers of Bangladesh can produce high zinc enriched rice capable of fighting diarrhoea and pneumonia-induced childhood deaths and stunting. The rice varieties have been developed by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) through application of biological fortification, sources said.
The National Seed Board (NSB) has released high yielding BRRI dhan-64 recently. High-zinc rice BRRI dhan-62 released late 2013 contains around 19 to 20 parts per million (ppm) zinc against 14 to 16 ppm in other high-yielding rice varieties. However, newly released rice breed contains zinc as high as 25 ppm, sources said.
A year after releasing the world’s first zinc-enriched rice variety BRRI-62, Bangladeshi breeders have come up with BRRI-64 rice variety with higher zinc content and greater yield potentials.
The BRRI breeders developed the high-zinc rice varieties with support from HarvestPlus, a global biofortification mission launched back in 2004 under the Washington-based global agro-science coordinating body Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research.
India lags behind as Bangladeshi breeders have already succeeded in developing two hi-zinc rice varieties – one (Brri dhan-62) for
Aman season and the other (Brri dhan-64) for Boro season.
HarvestPlus Director Howarth E Bouis said that India expected to come up with some high-zinc rice varieties in two years.
As per the mandate of the international collaboration, the zinc-enriched rice varieties developed in Bangladesh are likely to reach Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Some 27 countries including Bangladesh have so far released different biofortified crops and more are going to join the bandwagon. Some of the other biofortified crops released in other countries include iron-enriched beans and pear millets, zinc-rich wheat and vitamin-A-enriched cassava, maize and sweet potato.
HarvestPlus is spending $10 million for zinc-rice programme between 2013 and 2018, said Md Khairul Bashar, Bangladesh Country Manager.
“We are planning to reach out to half a million households by 2016 with commercialised zinc-rice seeds. The long-term objective is to develop sustainable markets for zinc-enriched seeds and grain, reaching a market share of over three percent of rice by 2018,” Bashar said.
