BLOG - Gadjah Mada University carried out the Gamagora 7 rice harvest in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on Monday, August 12, 2024 and the planting period was exactly 90 days. Previously, Gamagora had been successfully planted in various regions and the rice variety that had been tested since 2022 was expected to continue to develop.
Gamagora is short for "Gadjah Mada Gogo Rancah" and this variety was developed to overcome the decline in rice production in Indonesia caused by global climate change, El Nino and La Nina. Also the impact of the conversion of rice fields to non-rice fields of up to 96,512 hectares each year.
Gamagora 7 has several advantages including a production yield of up to 10 tons per hectare and resistance to brown planthopper biotype 2. This rice is also resistant to leaf blight disease pathotype III and blast disease races 033, 073, 133. This variety is also nicknamed "Amphibi" rice due to its adaptability that can be planted in wet rice fields and dry rice fields.
TRIAL
The trial stage began in 2022 in 14 locations, eight locations in wet rice fields and six locations in dry rice fields in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and Maluku. Multi-location tests used seeds from 10 lines to determine the superiority of this rice compared to similar rice that has been planted in Indonesia.
"We involved ten candidates, plus four comparators. Compared to existing cultivars, which are preferred by farmers and superior. Cultivars must have superior characteristics," said Panjisakti Basunada from Gadjah Mada University and one of the team members.
Researchers have made many efforts to change plant breeding activities to be more efficient by utilizing technological innovations. Plants are required to be superior varieties that can adapt to climate change, have a short planting time and are cheap.
"The development of agricultural technology must be more directed to accelerate the process of creating superior varieties through the screening process using genetic engineering and in vitro technology," said Taryono, head of the Gamagora project research team.
Fast breeding processes and shorter breeding cycles can be the simplest and most effective approaches to developing new varieties. Technological innovations can accelerate the production of superior varieties through molecular and non-molecular technology.
GENETIC DIVERSITY
Taryono said plant breeding activities require genetic diversity resources. This is a need that wild relatives, landraces, local varieties and other superior varieties must be preserved in their original habitat or transferred to other places including seed gene banks and fields.
Seed gene banks store orthodox seeds of food crops and horticulture such as rice, corn, soybeans, mung beans, long beans, winged beans and pumpkins. Efforts to preserve plant genetic resources continue to be carried out because their existence in nature continues to be pressured by population growth and climate change.
Efforts to develop genetic materials are carried out as a source of resistance to biological and environmental stresses, quality improvement, the search for sterile males for the development of hybrid varieties and the development of new varieties by transferring desired traits from various genetic resources to superior varieties.
Taryono proposed that the issue of food security should be resolved through regional decentralization, a strong food system based on local food. Preservation of plant genetic resources must be supported by a plasma nutfah agency tasked with preserving and utilizing genetic resources using a participatory approach.
"Participatory breeding is a highly recommended approach to answer food problems in the future with the many challenges that must be faced," said Taryono.
By Aryo Bandoro
Founder of Dlium.com. You can follow him on X: @Abandoro.
Gamagora is short for "Gadjah Mada Gogo Rancah" and this variety was developed to overcome the decline in rice production in Indonesia caused by global climate change, El Nino and La Nina. Also the impact of the conversion of rice fields to non-rice fields of up to 96,512 hectares each year.
Gamagora 7 has several advantages including a production yield of up to 10 tons per hectare and resistance to brown planthopper biotype 2. This rice is also resistant to leaf blight disease pathotype III and blast disease races 033, 073, 133. This variety is also nicknamed "Amphibi" rice due to its adaptability that can be planted in wet rice fields and dry rice fields.
TRIAL
The trial stage began in 2022 in 14 locations, eight locations in wet rice fields and six locations in dry rice fields in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and Maluku. Multi-location tests used seeds from 10 lines to determine the superiority of this rice compared to similar rice that has been planted in Indonesia.
"We involved ten candidates, plus four comparators. Compared to existing cultivars, which are preferred by farmers and superior. Cultivars must have superior characteristics," said Panjisakti Basunada from Gadjah Mada University and one of the team members.
Researchers have made many efforts to change plant breeding activities to be more efficient by utilizing technological innovations. Plants are required to be superior varieties that can adapt to climate change, have a short planting time and are cheap.
"The development of agricultural technology must be more directed to accelerate the process of creating superior varieties through the screening process using genetic engineering and in vitro technology," said Taryono, head of the Gamagora project research team.
Fast breeding processes and shorter breeding cycles can be the simplest and most effective approaches to developing new varieties. Technological innovations can accelerate the production of superior varieties through molecular and non-molecular technology.
GENETIC DIVERSITY
Taryono said plant breeding activities require genetic diversity resources. This is a need that wild relatives, landraces, local varieties and other superior varieties must be preserved in their original habitat or transferred to other places including seed gene banks and fields.
Seed gene banks store orthodox seeds of food crops and horticulture such as rice, corn, soybeans, mung beans, long beans, winged beans and pumpkins. Efforts to preserve plant genetic resources continue to be carried out because their existence in nature continues to be pressured by population growth and climate change.
Efforts to develop genetic materials are carried out as a source of resistance to biological and environmental stresses, quality improvement, the search for sterile males for the development of hybrid varieties and the development of new varieties by transferring desired traits from various genetic resources to superior varieties.
Taryono proposed that the issue of food security should be resolved through regional decentralization, a strong food system based on local food. Preservation of plant genetic resources must be supported by a plasma nutfah agency tasked with preserving and utilizing genetic resources using a participatory approach.
"Participatory breeding is a highly recommended approach to answer food problems in the future with the many challenges that must be faced," said Taryono.
By Aryo Bandoro
Founder of Dlium.com. You can follow him on X: @Abandoro.