Four new rice varieties introduced for next crop year

The head of the Rice Research Institute of Iran (RRII) announced the introduction of four new rice varieties, named "Mazand", "Hasti", "Omid", and "Tooka", as part of the breeding program aimed at introducing high-yielding, high-quality, and early-maturing varieties.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture's public relations office, Maryam Hosseini, speaking at the 19th National Rice Conference in Amol, said, "In line with the breeding program and with the aim of introducing high-yielding varieties with good cooking quality and early maturity, four new rice varieties named 'Mazand', 'Hasti', 'Omid', and 'Tooka' have been officially introduced. These varieties will be unveiled and released for rice cultivation in the next cropping year."

"The new rice variety 'Mazand' is the result of the purification of the local Tarom landrace. It has several special characteristics, including more than 5% higher yield per unit area compared to other local varieties, short stature and tolerance to lodging, early maturity, good cooking quality, tolerance to blast disease, and ratooning ability,” she added.

The head of RRII further described the characteristics of each of these varieties, saying, “Hasti is tolerant to drought and is recommended for farmers in the eastern Mazandaran region. It has other characteristics such as short growth period, early maturity, short stature and tolerance to lodging, tolerance to blast disease, high ratooning ability, and good cooking quality. This variety is the result of years of research by researchers and the accompanying team at RRII.”

“Omid is a high-yielding variety that is in the final stage of pre-release. It has a yield of more than 8 tons per hectare,” Hosseini said.