Mahyco seals joint venture with US’ RiceTec for HT rice and wheat

Seeds major Mahyco has formed a 50:50 joint venture with US-based seeds company ‘Ricetec’ called ‘Paryan’ to introduce environment-friendly non-GMO herbicide tolerant (HT) rice and wheat varieties for Indian farmers.
The JV — which is one among the many that Mahyco has entered with a global seeds company after the highly successful one with Monsanto — will be for licensing of HT traits and HT traited hybrids and varieties across rice and wheat to seed companies, each of whom will introduce these technologies into their varieties of seeds.
The rice and wheat hybrids and varieties from these technologies are resistant to the commonly used broad-spectrum herbicide called ‘imazethapyr’.
The promoters claimed that farmers can freely use the herbicide ‘imazethapyr’ without the fear of plants turning yellow which makes them ideal for direct seeding without the fear of weeds. While the wheat varieties are suitable for zero-tillage cultivation.
In the case of HT rice, the technology that the JV will commercialise is called ‘FullPage’ which is a new generation double stack mutant herbicide-tolerant rice technology.
And, in the case of wheat, the technology is called the ‘FreeHit’system which is also a unique double-stacked herbicide tolerant mutant in specially bred wheat varieties and specially formulated herbicide that will help farmers control weeds and increase yields.
Explaining benefits of the technology, Shirish Barwale, Managing Director of Mahyco said that field studies show that the cost of seven kilograms of the hybrid rice seeds through this technology plus the herbicide ‘imazethapyr’ will be around Rs 5150 per acre, while six kilograms of any other rice seed along with a complex mix of herbicides will cost anywhere around Rs 4000 per acre.
Source: Business-standard.