Manila, The Philippines
February 25, 2007
The Philippine STAR via
SEAMEO SEARCA
With the government aiming to make the country self sufficient
in rice, government scientists have been given the green light
to start another project to come up with improved hybrid rice
parental lines resistant to Bacterial Blight.
All eyes are now on Dr. Joan Marie S. Agarcio, a geneticist and
molecular biologist from the
Philippine Rice Research
Institute (PhilRice) as far as the project is concerned.
The project was approved by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap as
part of the government's effort to produce rice varieties that
would yield more and cost less to produce through modern
biotechnology.
Yap had approved a total of nine applied biotech research
projects for 2007, hoping to solve the many problems besetting
the country's agriculture sector.
Alicia Ilaga, director of the Department of Agriculture (DA)
Biotechnology Program, said the project will be implemented by
PhilRice-Central Experimental Station and PhilRice Isabela in
the project site at Maligaya, Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.
The project aims to identify the presence of target genes on
advanced progenies and test the uniformity and stability of new
and improved parental lines.
DNA fingerprinting and genome analysis of the selected improved
parental lines is also among the objectives, Ilaga said.
Through the DA National Plant Variety Protection Office, the
project hopes to register or patent improved and new material
for commercialization.
To check for the genetic identity of the improve lines, DNA
fingerprinting will be conducted using amplified fragment length
polymorphism (AFLP) and simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers.
The information that will be generated from the SSR fingerprints
will enable identification of the introgression regions from the
donor lines into the improved progenies.
Scientists hope to register and patent the research output
within the next two planting seasons.
Recent agricultural advances have improved rice productivity to
meet the demands of world's population.
Innovative breeding methods, and biotechnological, molecular,
and genome biology are being tapped to supplement to improve
rice-breeding efficiency and enhance yield.
Many countries worldwide are already exploiting the hybrid-seed
technology, and its success is seen as a potential strategy for
rice yield enhancement.
Densely populated countries like the Philippines have been
looking at rice hybrids as a possible solution for rice
shortage, since the commercial success of rice hybrids.
In China , the most populated country in the world, a yield
advantage of 15-30 percent higher than the best in-breed
varieties was observed with the use of hybrid-seed technology.
Biolife News Service
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