Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today dedicated 109 biofortified, high-yielding, and climate-resilient crop varieties to the nation as part of the Government of India's plan to revitalize agriculture and enhance food security. These include, three rice varieties developed by ICAR-National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) namely, CR Dhan 108, CR Dhan 810, and CR Dhan 416.

CR Dhan 108 is a drought tolerant rice variety for Odisha and Bihar. This would be very useful to the upland conditions of Odisha and Bihar with average productivity of 32q/ha where drought situation occurs in every 2-3 years. This maturity duration is about 112 days which best fits to the drought prone upland early DSR situations of eastern region. As medium slender grains are mostly market preferred it may boost the income of the farmers to a great extent. Similarly, CR Dhan 810 (Gayatri Sub-1) is a Submergence tolerant rice variety recommended for flood prone lowland areas of Odisha, W.B. and Assam with average productivity of 42q/ha where flash flood occurs frequently. The maturity duration is about 150 days which best fits to the lowland situations of eastern region. Another variety, CR Dhan 416 is suitable for the salt affected soils of West Bengal, Maharashtra and Gujarat with average productivity of 43q/ha. This maturity duration is about 125 days which best fits to the medium land situations where crop loss occurs due to salinity.

Moreover, Prime minister lauded the scientists for developing varieties that would bring resilience to rice farming in the event of extreme climate change.

Swadhin/Manoj

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