The Philippine Rice Research Institute announced in a press release that two high-yielding and pest-resistant rice varieties were developed locally using biotechnology tools in answer to the country’s problem of low productivity in recent years.

PhilRice director Leocadio Sebastian said NSIC Rc142 (Tubigan 7) and NSIC Rc154 (Tubigan 11) were developed using marker-aided selection for genetic traits that can resist pests such as bacterial leaf blight and tungro.

Sebastian said the two alternative rice varieties can compare very well with ordinary commercial rice and even fancy rice and are safe for human consumption.

He added that biotechnology tools were used to develop these rice strains and they cost as low as that of any ordinary rice variety.

Tubigan 7 and Tubigan 11 were products of marker-aided selection, a mid-level biotechnology technique that armed them with resistance against bacterial leaf bligh – a disease that is endemic in provinces with irrigated lowlands like Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Ifugao, Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Bulacan, a press release from Biolife said.

Tubigan 7 can yield at least 24 percent more than the common rice variety during the dry season and up to 32 percent more during the wet season, the.

Studies show that Tubigan rice varieties have good qualities as it is moist and sticky when cooked, the press release added.*

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