BRIN: Indonesia Has 11 Drought Tolerance Variety

Illustration - Farmers prepare water pump machines for the irrigation of rice farming land in Donohudan, Ngemplak, Boyolali, Central Java, Thursday (5/10/2023). BETWEEN PHOTOS/Aloysius Jarot Nugroho/Spt.

JAKARTA - Head of the Food Crops Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Yudhistira Nugraha said Indonesia has 11 varieties of rice that have a high tolerance for extreme weather and drought.

"From the last 10 years, there are 11 varieties that are gejah and tolerant of drought," said Yudhistira, quoted by ANTARA, Friday, October 6.

He explained that the genjah age variety is rice plants that have a planting period of less than 105 days, while generally rice in other varieties can only be harvested when they are 120 days old.

Yudhistira assessed that the short harvest period of these 11 varieties could reduce the risk of crop failure due to water constraints. Because from the results of research conducted, this dry tolerant variety can save as much water as 20 percent.

The 11 rice varieties include Inpari 38, Inpari 39, Inpari 40, Inpari 41, Cisaat varieties, Cakrabuana varieties, Padjadjaran varieties, Situbagendit varieties, Inpago 10, Inpago 11, and Inpago 12.

According to Yudhistira, 11 varieties of dry tolerant rice are very suitable to be grown in the long dry season due to the impact of the current phenomenon of El Nino.

"Because it is estimated that El Nino will be until February 2024, it is hoped that farmers can replace (padies) with the varieties I mentioned earlier, so that there is less water need," he said.

He argued that replacing it with dry tolerant varieties is important to maintain the productivity of farmers even with little water availability.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the bad effects of the El Nino phenomenon are extreme drought, rising weather temperatures, forest and land fires (karhutla), and potential crop failure.