HYBRID RICE RESEARCH AND CULTIVATION IN BANGLADESH: POTENTIALITY AND PROSPECTS

Hybrid rice is developed by crossing two genetically different parents and has a higher yield potential than inbred varieties. This could be used to bridge the gap between rice demand and yield in 40 rice growing countries. In Bangladesh, hybrid rice yielded 20-25% higher than HYV in an irrigated ecosystem. Therefore, hybrid rice offers great hope to farmers to compensate differences in rice yield and production costs. The purpose of the study is to highlight the status and future prospects of hybrid rice cultivation, seed production and research activities in the public and private sectors. So far, 235 hybrid rice have been registered in Bangladesh, of which only 27 have been domestically developed. Of these, 18 hybrids were developed by private and 9 by public sectors. However, 90 percent of the hybrid seeds available in the Bangladesh market are covered by hybrid rice varieties developed and introduced by private companies. Currently, hybrid rice covers approximately 10.40% of the rice area in Bangladesh (1.21 Mha out of 11.64 Mha). Unfortunately, most of the hybrid rice cultivation is concentrated in the Boro season, which covers approximately 24.95% of the total rice area of Boro season. By 2050, we need to increase hybrid rice coverage by approximately 40.51% of the total area (3.97 Mha from 9.80 Mha) to meet the demand of ever-growing population. A total of 17 rice types in Bangladesh, but registered hybrid varieties are adapted to only four types; such as Boro (short duration), Boro (long duration), Favorable Aman and Premium quality rice. We need to develop versatile hybrid varieties that could adapt in many ecosystems. BRRI could therefore be piloted a long-term public-private partnership project to establish a National Hybrid Rice Research Institute to develop demand-driven smart hybrid rice varieties to ensure future food security of the country.