President RI Grace the Occasion on the New variety IPB 3S and IPB 4S Harvest
President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, had grace the occasion of the harvest of the IPB 3S and 4S new rice varieties that developed by the Institute Pertanian Bogor (IPB – Bogor Agricultural University), on Sunday, 27 September 2015, in Cikarang village, Cilamaya Wetan District, Karawang, West Java. On this occasion, the president also witnessed the process of rice planting and harvesting using the machine.
Among the VVIPs present in the first rice new variety harvest were Rector of IPB, Prof. Dr. Herry Suhardiyanto, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman, Acting Regent Cellica Nurrachadiana, some local farmers, as well as students of the University.
"Rice varieties 3S IPB is genitically new structured variety. The rice, labeled IPB 3s and developed by the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) in cooperation with the Agriculture Ministry and the West Java government, was planted at Cikarang village in Karawang district, West Java," said Rector give an explanation to the president.
President of Indonesia, who is commonly called “Jokowi” appreciated this rice genetic engineering development program, as the new rice variety may boost our self-sufficiency rice program. "If everyone thinks on the increase of rice production, it will become the key to the nation’s bid for self-sufficiency," said Jokowi.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture hopes that these varieties can meet government targets to achieve rice self-sufficiency. "The new variety has been tested on a 500 hectare field and this harvest season the variety has already produced a yield of 13.4 tons per hectare, 1.5 times more than regular rice. If the new rice variety will be cultivated at about two million hectares, then the additional production of six million tonnes a year will be achieved, "he said.
Varieties IPB IPB 3S and 4S is a rice variety developed by researchers of IPB, Dr. Hajrial Aswidinoor. The new variety may increase the our rice yields. The new variety has been tested on a 500 hectare field and this harvest season the variety has already produced a yield of 13.4 tons per hectare, or equal to 9.4 tonnes per hectare of dry milled grain. This productivity is far above the average national production that ranges from 5.5 tonnes per hectare. The cultivation of the new rice varieties may boost the productivity of approximately 3 tonnes per hectare of dry milled grain. Moreover, this variety is also resistant to pests tungro.
On this occasion Dr. Hajrial expressed his happiness with the result of he and his team research program, "We are very pleased with the result, though more research will be needed to improve its performance. I hope more farmers aware on the potential of these varieties and willingly to utilize and cultivate it for the national welfare, " stated Dr. Hajrial. (Wied)
