Mumbai: The Tata Group is known as a salt to defence and aerospace group but its foray into creating and commercially marketing the MC13, the first hybrid in the bold rice variety, is almost unknown. The group through its young five-year-old company Metahelix Life Sciences has produced this seed that gives a 15-40 per cent jump in yield and is cost effective as a farmer needs just 6 kg of seed for one acre compared to 60 kg required for the normal variety.
This innovation is part of the top 60 innovations in 2014-15 by the group’s various companies announced by Dr Mukand Rajan, member, group executive council and brand custodian, Tata Sons.
These innovations are expected to deliver an estimated financial benefit of $1.1 billion annually. Dr K.K. Narayanan, managing director, Metahelix Life Sciences, said the yield advantage per acre is five quintals and one needs just 6 kg of seeds per acre compared to the 60 kg for the normal variety.
There is also the added advantage of the product time being just 115 days compared to the 140-150 days for the normal variety.“Being an efficient variety it needs minimum inputs like water an crop protection chemicals,” he said, adding that presently 24,000 farmers are using MC13. According to Dr Rajan, there has been a five-fold rise in innovations in the Tata Group.
