MUNOZ SCIENCE CITY, Nueva Ecija, Philippines — The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), the country`s lead agency in rice science and development based in this city, recently released eight new early maturing varieties of rice that have premium to excellent milling and head rice recovery and good eating quality.

Thelma F. Padolina, division head of the Institute`s Plant Breeding and Biotechnology Division, said the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC) approved the release of the eight early maturing varieties after demonstrating good performance on field trials.

“These varieties seek to provide farmers with more options on suitable and better varieties to plant,” she said.

Padolina said the seeds of the newly approved rice varieties are available in PhilRice`s branch stations and from selected National Rice Seed Production Network partners for the production of registered and certified seeds.

The newly released varieties are among the 32 released varieties developed by the International Rice Research Institute, University of the Philippines in Los Baños, and private companies.

Developed for irrigated and rain-fed lowland and saline-prone areas, the new PhilRice-bred varieties, which mature from 108 to 118 days, include six inbreds, a hybrid, and an inbred glutinous rice.

PhilRice said the varieties released for the irrigated lowland are Tubigan 22 (NSIC Rc240), Malagkit 5 (NSIC Rc21 SR), and Mestiso 29 (NSIC Rc244H); Sahod Ulan 2 (NSIC 2011 Rc272) and Sahod Ulan 10 (NSIC Rc288) for the rain-fed lowland; and Salinas 6 (NSIC Rc290), Salinas 7 (NSIC Rc292), and Salinas 8 (NSIC Rc294) for the saline-prone areas.

“Maturing in 108 days when direct-seeded and 115 days when transplanted, Tubigan 22 registered a high yield of about 18 percent than the check variety, PSB Rc82. Multi-location adaptability trials also showed that Tubigan 22 could yield about 6 t/ha and has a yield potential of about 11 t/ha and 8 t/ha under transplanted and direct-seeded conditions, respectively. It is resistant to blast, sheath blight, bacterial leaf blight, and white stem borer,” it said.

On the other hand, Malagkit 5, a glutinous rice variety that matures in 122 days, has moderate resistance to whiteheads, brown planthopper, green leaf hopper, and yellow stem borer.