KPKM Announces MR 333 New Padi Variety, ‘MENORA’,

KEPALA BATAS, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (KPKM), through the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), has introduced a new padi variety, MR 333 - branded as MENORA - to enhance the competitiveness of the country’s padi and rice sectors.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, said MR 333 is the result of intensive research by MARDI, supported by an allocation of RM36.1 million under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).

 “The MR 333 variety is introduced as an alternative to popular varieties such as MR 297, MR 315, MR 303 and MR 307. It was developed specifically for granary areas with a potential yield of up to 9.96 tonnes per hectare. 

“The variety is also proven to be competitive because of its resistance to blast disease. Therefore, I am confident that this variety can help increase farmers’ income, provided it is supported by good farming practices,” he said at the announcement of the MARDI MR 333 new padi variety in Kampung Lahar Minyak here, today.

The event was also attended by MARDI chairman Dr Azman Ismail, KPKM deputy secretary-general (development) Datuk Badrul Hisham Mohd and MARDI director-general Datuk Dr Mohamad Zabawi Abdul Ghani.

Commenting further, Mohamad said MR 333 also has a short maturity period of between 103 and 108 days, is resistant to collapse, and has a higher 1,000-grain weight of 30.9 grams, which is an important factor in increasing farm productivity.

He said the introduction of the new padi variety also reflects the continuous efforts by KPKM and MARDI  in increasing the country's padi and rice productivity.

MR 333 padi is cultivated using a machine which can increase the effectiveness of crop management, thus providing better returns to farmers, he added.

MARDI has produced 58 varieties of padi and more than 95 per cent of the country's main granary areas are cultivated using the MARDI variety.

Earlier, Mohamad presented the KPKM Young Agropreneur Grant of RM90,000 and the 12th Malaysia Plan Pioneer Project Grant worth RM37,140 to two recipients.

He also presented the MR 333 padi seeds to five farmers involved in the MARDI MR 333 new padi variety farming project.

-- BERNAMA