| Rokiah Mahmud |
BRUNEIANS will soon be seeing a new type of rice on their meal plates, the Sembada 188, after initial planting for the variety took place at the Wasan Agricultural Development Area (KKP Wasan) yesterday.
Gracing and launching the event was His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, who chipped in to plant the first seedlings of the high-yield paddy.
The project, aimed at boosting local rice production, is a collaborative effort following research done by the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood, Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) and PT Biogene Plantation of Indonesia.
It is scheduled to be carried out for three seasons – the first phase in May 2016 and ended in March this year.
Studies have found that Sembada 188 has an average yield of five to six tonnes per hectare per season.
The variety’s seeds are being imported from Indonesia through Yaz & Wyn Enterprise, a local company appointed as the sole distributor for the seeds in Brunei Darussalam.
The Sembada 188 pilot planting project launched yesterday covers 35 hectares of agricultural land and involves 19 farmers from Setia Kawan Cooperative (KOSEKA).
“Before deciding on Sembada 188, we went through three planting trials which began three years ago, using Sembada B9, Sembada 188, Sembada 626 and Sembada 989 seeds,” Head Director of PT Biogene Plantation Bambang Puwardi Priyono explained in an interview.
“Out of the four, Sembada 188 has been chosen for the collaboration as it is capable of producing twice the yield compared to other varieties.”