Development of Drought Tolerant Rice Variety BRRI dhan66 for Rainfed Lowland Ecosystem of Bangladesh

Abstract

A newly released drought tolerant rice variety BRRI dhan66 suitable for rainfed lowland ecosystem of Bangladesh is an improvement over existing drought tolerant rice varieties. The variety has satisfactorily been passed in the proposed variety trial conducted in the farmers’ field. As a result, National Seed Board (NSB) approved this variety for commercial cultivation in the wet season (T. Aman) in 2014. It has modern plant type with 120 cm plant height and matures in 110-115 days. The important feature of this variety is higher drought tolerance during reproductive stage. It can produce 4.5-5.0 t/ha grain yield without irrigation during reproductive stage. It can produce satisfactory yield when soil moisture remains <20% and perch water table depth is more than 70-80 cm from the surface. The seed size of the variety is 24 g with intermediate long bold grain. It has long, wide and erect flag leaf with deep green colour. It is highly promising as a drought tolerant rice variety for cultivation in the drought prone area, which helps farmers’ to get rid of huge economic loss and is contributing in sustaining food security.
 Bangladesh Rice j. 2019, 23(1): 45-55

Characterization of transcription factor MYB59 and expression profiling in response to low K+ and NO3− in indica rice (Oryza sativa L.)

“…Melt curve and amplification plots from the StepOne TM software were used to verify the amplification and specificity of the amplicons. BRRI dhan56 is a moderate salt and drought-tolerant variety [1,24]. We saw upregulation of OsMYB59 in both LK and LN medium for this variety.…”

Intensity of adoption and welfare impacts of drought-tolerant rice varieties cultivation in Bangladesh

“…The data also show that there is a substantial difference in food grain availability between partial and full adopters, implying that farmers who grow drought-tolerant rice varieties on all of their rice cultivable land are in a better position in terms of food grain availability. Adoption of drought-tolerant rice varieties helps to increase food grain supply, which can play an important role in food security ( Mottaleb et al., 2017 ; Kader et al., 2019 ; Dar et al., 2020 ).…”

“…As a result, full adopters have considerably higher incomes than non-adopters. Farmers' economic losses may also be reduced as a result of adoption ( Kader et al., 2019 ). Concerned authorities should take appropriate strategies to communicate and improve farmers' knowledge, which will boost the adoption intensity of drought-tolerant rice varieties.…”

“…Farmers in Bangladesh's drought-prone areas can now look forward to a more plentiful rice harvest with the release of many drought-tolerant rice varieties (BRRI dhan 56, BRRI dhan 66, BRRI dhan 71) by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). Drought-tolerant rice varieties are those that can produce a reasonable yield even when soil moisture is less than 20% and the perch water table depth is more than 70–80 cm from the surface level ( Kader et al., 2019 ). All of these varieties can reach maturity in 105–115 days.…”

“…All of these varieties can reach maturity in 105–115 days. Drought-tolerant varieties can produce at least 3.5–5 t/ha without watering throughout the reproductive period ( Kader et al., 2019 ). Traditional rice varieties in Bangladesh wither and die within 10–12 days if water is not available, while drought-tolerant cultivars may survive without rain up to 27 days ( Islam, 2011 ).…”