ALOR STAR: Farmers participating in the Kedah Zakat Board's (LZNK) Asnaf Large-Scale Smart Padi Field (SBBA) project could potentially increase their yields to 11 tonnes per hectare using a new nuclear technology-based rice variety, NMR152.
Malaysian Nuclear Agency research officer Dr Sobri Hussein said the variety was developed through nuclear-based mutation breeding, with the potential for higher yields, greater weather resilience and improved agronomic traits.
However, he said that good farm management remained crucial, as the variety alone could contribute only about 50 per cent towards higher yields, with the remainder depending on farming practices.
"As such, farmers must pay attention to fertilisation, disease control and soil conditions to achieve good yields. We hope this variety, which took 10 years to develop, will bring better returns to farmers," he said after a handover of NMR152 seeds from Malaysian Nuclear Agency director-general Dr Muhammad Rawi Mohamed Zin to LZNK chief executive officer Datuk Syeikh Zakaria Othman.
