MANILA, Philippines - A Malaysian agriculture deputy chief minister said a Philippine hybrid rice variety “was very promising to be planted commercially in Sarawak by next year to increase our production of the cereal.”
Tan Sri Dr. George Chan, deputy chief minister of the state Agriculture Department, said the Philippines’ SL-8H hybrid rice variety produced by Makati City-based SL Agritech Corp., “was very promising to be planted here in Sarawak on a big scale.”
Agritech (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, according to Dr. Chan, brought in the high-yielding hybrid rice seeds variety and started a collaborative research with the Agriculture Research Centre in Semengok and the initial results showed that the SL-8H “was very encouraging compared to conventional rice varieties.”
“This SL-8H hybrid seed variety grows well in our climate and the yield is 15 to 20 percent more than the conventional varieties,” Dr. Chan told reporters during a visit to a hybrid rice farm in Paya Paloh Station in Samarahan province.
Because of the good results shown by the Philippine hybrid rice, Dr. Chan said the next step for them is to cross breed the SL-8H with their varieties that were known to have higher resistance to local pest and diseases.
“We have a lot of varieties of our own which we can mate with this new hybrid so that we can get the most high-yielding and pest or disease resistant variety,” he said, adding that “through this end, he would source for funds from the Science Technology and Innovation Ministry.
Teo Gion Kheng, senior research officer of Agriculture Research Center, said SL-8H had a potential yield of eight tons per hectare compared to the conventional variety MR219. which has a yield of six tons per hectare.
She said SL-8H has large and heavy grains weighing 31.38g per 1,000 grains, while the MR219 was lighter at 27.10g. “Using transplanting technology, SL8H matures in 110 days, while MR219 in 124 days,” she said.