Regional Research Station Gerua, Assam (RRLRRS)
The flood is an annual disaster and about 2 m ha of rice-land plunge into flood annually to varying depths in Assam. The Productivity of rice under rainfed lowland to deepwater conditions is only around 1 t/ha in spite of excellent soil and climatic conditions in Assam. Rice is not only the staple food, but also it is a hub of other species that support the environment and employment opportunity to many others. Considering the flooding events, Govt. of Assam had requested the Central Government to establish a rice research station at Assam to work for the development of rainfed lowland and flood prone rice. As a result, RRLRRS, Gerua was established in 1997 as a Regional station of Central Rice Research Institute under Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi to work on the rice development in Eastern India including Assam.
Mandate:
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Collection, evaluation, conservation and exchange of rice germplasm.
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Development of suitable high yielding varieties with tolerance to cold during early stage of the crop to replace the existing local varieties in Boro season.
- Catering to the research needs and requirements of flood prone lowland areas of Assam, which are invariably affected by flash flood.
- Generation of appropriate rice production and protection packages for Ahu, Sali, Bao and Boro rice of Assam
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Characterization of hydrology and prioritization of farming options of rice ecosystems for the region.
Thrust Area of Research:
- Strengthening the breeding strategy to evolove suitable Sali varieties with tolerance to flood.
- Development of short duration varieties with blast resistance and cold tolerance for Boro season.
- Evolution of HYV as preflood Ahu and post flood Sali sitations.
- Development of flood resistant rice varieties for lowland, semi deep and deepwater conditions.
- Development of appropriate integrated insect pest and disease management strategies.
- Development of strategies to avoid crop submergence through suitable cultural practices for both intermediate and semi deep conditions.
Present and Future Work at RRLRRS:
- Released rice variety Chandrama as Boro and Sali for Assam.
- Rice strains viz. Pratikshya, Raimukhi, CR898, Tapaswani, LPR 119, Anjali, Nilagiri, Vandana on pipeline
- Production technology for Rice rice-rice cropping sequences for irrigated lowlands standardized.
- Rice Fish-Horticulture farming system revalidated for rainfed lowland of Assam
- Continual maintenance of Over 2000 Eastern Indian Rice germplasm
- Bio control agents like T. harzianum, T.viride, gives good control of leaf blast, Sheath blight and BLB.
- Survey revealed that Leaf blast is the major disease in Boro & Ahu while BLB, Sheath blight, Sheath rot & Blast occur in Sali season. Developed 2500 breeding lines from 37 crosses for flood prone rice improvement.