Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman (JP/Anton Hermansyah)
The Agriculture Ministry launched on Monday two new varieties of paddy seeds — Inpari 42 Agritan GSR and Inpari 43 Agritan GSR — that it claimed were suitable to plant in any weather and more resistant to planthopper infestations.
The two varieties, invented by the ministry’s research and development body, are categorized as Green Super Rice (GSR), or paddies with high productivity, and are more environmentally friendly because they need less pesticides, chemical fertilizers and water.
“GSR also have high productivity in sub-optimum conditions, like in drought and floods. Hence, they’re suitable for today’s condition of climate change,” Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said during the launch.
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The ministry claims the seeds have a productivity level of 10 tons per hectare, with a 65 percent yield rate, which means they can produce 65 kilograms of rice from 100 kg of paddy.
At a 75 percent fertilization rate, Inpari 42 Agritan GSR and Inpari 43 Agritan GSR seeds can produce 5.2 tons and 6.71 tons of paddy per ha, respectively — higher than Ciherang seeds, which can produce 4.7 tons of paddy per ha
The ministry has distributed 2.7 tons of the new paddy varieties in West Java and Central Java.
The ministry currently has in stock 3.5 tons of Inpari 42 Agritan GSR and 5.3 tons of Inpari 43 Agritan GSR to sell to the public.