Tata’s hybrid rice to alter farming

The group has developed the first hybrid in the bold rice variety

Update: 2015-05-14 01:05 GMT
Tata group's hybrid seed 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

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.

Similar News