TUARAN, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- Farmers in Sabah can produce more than 10 tonnes of padi per hectare if they are to fully implement the relevant agricultural technology, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said Thursday.
He said he was informed that there were farmers who could attain such a production rate under the guidance of the Agriculture Department following the development of new padi strains at the Tuaran Agricultural Research Centre here.
"So far, 19 new padi strains and 60 other food crop varieties have been recommended for cultivation by agricultural entrepreneurs in the state.
"The successful development of new (padi) strains has raised the yield of the farmers from less than one tonne per hectare to 3.5 tonnes per hectare today. Some farmers can even produce more than 10 tonnes per hectare," he said when launching the Open Day of the centre.
At the event, Musa launched a new padi strain, TR8 or "Seri Aman", which is resistant to the so-called red disease attributed to the rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) and can produce between five and seven tonnes of padi per hectare.
"I hope for much better research at this centre, even better than in neighbouring countries such as Thailand which has a very good research centre and has achieved outstanding findings.
"I believe this centre, which is among the oldest (since 1963), can come up with more new findings for us to be self sufficient and not be overly dependent on food imports," Musa told reporters after the event.
He said Sabah was 30 per cent self sufficient in rice and was targeting to achieve 42 per cent self sufficiency by the end of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) in 2010.
Musa also launched a reference book, Soil Monograph of Sabah (Volume 1), which describes 30 types of soil found in the state, and opened the chemical laboratory building of the research centre.
resource : Bernama
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