Road Builder and Hybrid rice cultivation in Malaysia

In Malaysia, a pilot hybrid rice experimental plot is already underway, with initial planting already showing excellent results. Located in Kuala Rompin, Pahang, the project – which is operated by RB Biotech Sdn Bhd – began in May 2006, with an initial development area of 27.2ha.

Road Builder Group, as part of its CSR project, began undertaking this initiative during Tan Sri Chua Hock Chin’s tenure as the company's executive vice-chairman. Now, upon retiring from a busy corporate life that has taken up his focus for the past 21 years, Chua is determined to enhance the research and development on hybrid rice in a bigger way.

At this point, it is still considered early days, but already the undertaking promises much bigger things, because by 2007, the total development area is expected to be close to 1,000ha.

Rice is second only to wheat in terms of cultivation, and represents the staple food for more than half the world’s population, primarily in Asia.

Yet, while levels of per capita intake of rice around the world continue to climb each year, the land area utilised for cultivation continues to become smaller, everywhere.
Malaysia, for example, is only about 65% self-sufficient in rice production, and with a shrinking area of production and a growing population, the means to achieving complete self-sufficiency looks remote.

Part of it is due to the lack of glamour and low income generally associated with rice production. There is a lot of work involved, usually for very little returns in monetary terms. In larger-scale ventures, this is less of a problem, but even then, oil palm, for instance, is seen as a more lucrative business.

Despite the subsidisation of items such as seeds, fertilisers and machinery, rice cultivation is more often than not seen as not being rewarding enough for many, who are moving away from this way of life.

Besides natural conditions that determine and affect the overall productivity cycle, things such as fluctuating yields and a shortage of affordable labour are not helping to alleviate the situation. This is reflected in the area of overall cultivation, which is decreasing, the land either abandoned or left idle.

One way to arrest the decline in rice production is by means of introducing hybrid rice cultivation, which would address inconsistent yield rates and marginal income returns that affect ordinary (inbred) rice production.

Developed in China, the beginnings came when a male sterility gene was identified in a variety of wild rice. A successful transfer of the gene by Chinese scientists allowed the creation of the first generation hybrids in 1974.

With the first examples being made available to farmers in 1976, hybrid rice is now responsible for more than 65% of China’s total rice production, with more than half of the country’s total rice land currently planted with hybrid rice.

Possibly the most important element of hybrid rice is the higher output and yield rate in returns – the average yields are at least 50% higher than the best inbred varieties. On average, the yield is about six tonnes per hectare, but with favourable environment and proper field management, this can be easily double that figure.

Furthermore, it is possible to have five seasons of planting in two years, which is not achievable with traditional means.

“The Ministry of Agriculture aims for the country to be 95% self-sufficient, from currently 65%, which means more acreage to be planted and developed in the near future. With hybrid rice technology, this is very much attainable,” Chua told Sunday Star in an exclusive interview.

“It is essential to develop new and young rice farmers. They need to be trained with new technology and techniques. This encompasses the utilisation of optimum quantity of the right fertiliser, pesticides and modular farm equipment, machinery that is proven suitable and affordable for smallholders.

“The Pahang government has been very supportive and generous in providing about 15ha of land for the development of the R&D centre for hybrid rice in Kampung Paya Tebu Hitam in Kuala Rompin.

“This centre will have its own laboratory, green houses and test plots. It will enable all R&D and training activities to be done on site, which is located adjacent to the commercial plantation area. It will take about 10 years to mature,” Chua said.

“Currently, there are three hybrid rice scientists and three hybrid rice technicians stationed in Kuala Rompin. They are actively developing new varieties that will be suitable for commercialisation, based on our local climate, soil and environment conditions.

“By early 2007, five scientists will be based in Kuala Rompin to further enhance R&D activities. The estimated cost of the R&D facilities is going to be approximately RM25mil,” he added.
Chua’s partner in the community project, Chen Long-Chen, agrees that it is essential to train farmers to look at rice farming in a new way. The Taiwanese-born, Singapore-based chairman of Best Wishes Agritech Holdings Limited has been in the hybrid rice research and development business since 1991 and, as such, knows precisely what he is talking about.

“Education is the key. Explaining the benefits and how to best work with hybrid rice is very important if the entire programme is to be successful,” he said.

Chen, who has achieved notable success in hybrid rice production in the Philippines before this, believes that it should be no different here, though production in different countries has different criteria to fulfil.

“Obviously, the type of rice produced has to be suited to planting in local conditions, as well as cater to demand in taste. You cannot simply choose a variety that may be exceptional, but not suitable here.

“Likewise, the final product will have to be what local consumers want; in the case of top-quality locally, it is Thai jasmine fragrant rice.”

The creation of hybrid rice is by means of crossing two parents that are genetically different and distant from each other. With careful screening and matching, the resultant offspring will exhibit superiority over an inbred, derived from the best aspects present in both its parents.

This, of course, means that selective adaptation to the ecological environment it is going to be located in is a prerequisite. The wrong choice of hybrid simply offers no advantage in terms of yield.

Correctly matched to the environment, a hybrid will exhibit many advantages over its inbred cousins during the growth stage. Its roots are two to three times more that that of normal varieties, thus allowing it to absorb higher levels of water and fertiliser, and hybrids have a higher production of leaves, as well as larger leaves, lending it the ability to produce superior rice. Conversely, there is a need for higher amount of fertiliser and water than with inbreds.
There is also a different scope in how seedlings are managed. For one, the level of attention needed in growing seedlings is greater, and there is a requirement for sparse seeding to promote vigorous growth.

Though more expensive to produce, less seeds are needed per hectare, about 20kg compared to 100-200kg needed for inbreds. The use of new seeds every season is a prerequisite; otherwise, it will result in non-uniform growth.

The different terminologies for hybrids are classified as such: The A Line is the female plant, which is also known as the cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS). This is the seed parent, and is produced by crossing with a B Line.

The B Line is genetically the same as the A Line, except for fertility (it is not male sterile). It holds the key to “patenting” the hybrid, and is also known as maintainer because it preserves the sterility of A. The R Line is the male parent; the R is short for restorer, because it restores fertility in the hybrid seed.

The F1 is what is termed the hybrid seed, and is a product of crossing A with R. It is essentially the first filial generation, and is supposed to perform better than either parent.

Technically, it is not classified as a genetically modified organism (GMO). Finally, there is F2, which is harvested from F1 plants, and is sold as commercial rice.

Currently, the total land area at the Rompin project is made up of an A x B research plot that is 0.7ha, a 3.5ha A x R seed production area and a 23ha F1 rice production area, the entire development being supervised by three Chinese scientists who have extensive experience from working on the subject in the Philippines.

By December, the total development area will be expanded to 293ha, of which 280ha is slated for F1 rice planting. Sixty-five types of rice seeds are being cultivated at the moment, and these will be used for determining what will be in the end the parent seeds for eventual production purposes, according to Chen. “The cultivation in Rompin will effectively be for printing the parent seeds; production seeds can be done across the country.

Likewise, the research centre here will cover the whole country’s needs in terms of research, development and education,” he said.

A visit to the site recently showed that the promise is shaping up well. The air was filled with the scent of fragrant pilot F1 plants, and the Chinese scientists were busy at work implementing further planting for the next phase. The coming months will see more machinery coming in, according to Chua.

“The plan is to do direct seeding and we will be bringing in multi-purpose machines to cope with the expansion.” It is obvious that the subject is close to Chua’s heart – his vision and goal for the project is admirable.

“Our target for Malaysian rice farmers is to plant 250,000ha of hybrid rice across the country,” he stated.

There is still some time before the lofty ideal of full self-sustainability in rice production is achieved, but the wheels of that promise have been well and truly set in motion.

Excerpt from The Star Pictures by ANTHONY LIM and courtesy of RB Biotech

Tag: Malaysia: Health & wellness Biotechnology klse hybrid rice