Hybrid rice pilot project in Bintangor records first-trial success
SIBU: The hybrid rice cultivation on a three-acre land at Sungai Padi experimental station in Bintangor near here has yielded success.
According to Onemas Agriculture Sdn Bhd executive chairman Stephen Sia, the firsttrial batch has produced rice of high quality.
“Following this success, the pilot project will be expanded to cover a total area of 38 acres in Sungai Padi.
“The cultivation period has been relatively shortened, where the hybrid rice ripening a er 88 days from the date of seedsowing. “This would allow for three planting cycles (each taking 88 days) a year.
“Harvesting started Feb 6 this year, with every acre able to produce between four and five metric tonnes,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday, adding that a consultation and discussion session with the relevant authorities was conducted in Bintangor recently.
Highlighting a comparison, Sia said the local rice variety would take about 150 days to ripen from the date of seed-sowing.
“For the time being, all works are done manually in the pilot project, without the aid of any machinery,” he added.
Moreover, Sia said Onemas Agriculture was willing to share its model of operations with the local farmers who were interested to venture into hybrid rice cultivation.
“We are also hopeful that the Sarawak government would help the local community participate in this endeavour to increase the rice production capacity and also food security for Sarawak.”
In the initial stage, Onemas Agriculture conducted the research with assistance from field experts from China.
Field research expert Gong De Jun from Guoying Seed Industry in Wuhan, China was invited to oversee the process.