A surprising quadruple jump in breeder’s and foundation rice seeds production

  The director-general of the Rice Research Institute of Iran announced that we have crossed a crucial phase in seeds production at country scale through a surprising quadruple jump in breeder’s and foundation rice seeds production during the last three years (2018-2020).

According to the news website of the ministry of Agricultural Jahad, the rice foundation seed production has increased from 6 tonnes in 2019 to 25 tonnes in 2020.

She also added that the RRII, as a responsible center of rice research and innovation will continuously focus on the breeder’s and foundation rice seeds production through an annual organized program. This successful jump in seed production can cause to increase in the rice certified seeds production and also can develop and promote the rice seed industry.

Certified seed is high in genetic purity, high in germination and vigor (more than 80 %), and of good quality (i.e., free from disease and from damaged or immature seed)”, Director-General of RRII, Dr. Hossieni said. She also pointed out that the purity of the certified seeds is more than 98%, and therefore, by using them the rice productivity per unit will improve, and rice production will increase considerably (by about 9 to 15%, according to rice market statistics). The higher percentage of white rice, lower weed seeds, lower labor costs for weeding, higher price per kilogram of white rice, and consequently higher income for rice farmers are the most important benefits of using the rice certified seeds.

The director-general of the Rice Research Institute of Iran stated that the total amount of certified seeds required by the provinces of Guilan and Mazandaran, taking into account that all rice growers use these seeds, is about 18,000 to 20,000 tons. He noted that currently, 18% of all rice farmers in the northern provinces have access to certified seeds and the rest use their own seeds. Therefore, based on the

Emphasizing the need of rice farmers to use certified seeds with international seed standards in the country’s rice production sector, Dr. Hossieni said: “Within the next five years, the use of certified seeds in the country’s paddy fields should reach about 40 to 50 percent based on the 10-year organized program of the ministry of Agricultural –Jahad.

She also added: “Currently, the seeds production infrastructures must improve through immediate action plans, and the government should pay some financial supporting packages to increase and maintain the quality of produced seeds and keep the final price low to promote the farmers for using the certified seeds.