Irga—a flood resistant paddy variety

Paddy farmers in undivided Dakshina Kannada district suffer from less yield, the Zonal Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station, in Brahmavar have taken up an initiative to introduce flood resistant rice variety ‘Irga’ to the paddy fields in Udupi.

Farmers normally cultivate MO4 variety of paddy in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. However, this variety can not withstand the stagnation of flood water during heavy rainfall. As a result, farmers reap less yield. “The Irga variety can resist the flood and is suitable for this region. We are mulling over introducing this variety on a large scale next year,” said Dr Sridevi Jakkeral, scientist of Zonal Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station.

The Irga rice variety will help in farmers in getting good yield. The paddy seedlings grow 10 cm height.

The paddy will be ready for harvest within 130 to 135 days of transplantation. Farmers can reap about 40 quintal to 50 quintal of yield per hectare. Compared to other variety, the farmers can also get more quantity of paddy straw.
The straw from Irga is nutritious for the cattle, said Dr Sridevi.

She said, her team had taken up extensive study on Irga variety. The germplasm lines were brought from Philippines to invent this paddy species. Seeds of this variety were distributed among 20 farmers on a trial basis this year who cultivated rice on flood-affected areas. The saplings were not damaged as they could resist the flood for eight days.
Farmers had been demanding an alternative to MO4 variety of rice in the region. Irga rice is more tastier compared to MO4. The quantity of water required for cooking the rice is also less.

International Rice Research Institute, Philippines will shortly submit a certificate explaining the genetics of this variety of rice. The variety is suitable for the topography of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. The paddy stalks of Irga variety grows around 95 cm long and bunch of rice in stalks remain intact.