Early Maturing Drought Tolerant Rice Variety BRRI dhan71 Suitable for Drought Prone Environment in Bangladesh

Drought is the second most treacherous climate-related risk for rice production in rainfed lowland areas. To counter this climate vulnerability, a new rice variety with enhanced drought tolerance was developed. The promising line IR82589-B-B-84-3 was subjected to advanced yield trials to evaluate specific and general adaptability with standard check in on-station as well as on-farm conditions of Bangladesh following randomized complete block (RCB) design with three replications in wet (T. Aman) season. IR82589-B-B-84-3 was developed as a drought-tolerant rice variety BRRI dhan71, which plant height 108 cm and growth duration 115 days after proper evaluation by National Seed Board (NSB) Bangladesh. It was found that this variety is the higher drought tolerance (up to 28 days) during reproductive stage. It can produce 5.5 t/ha grain yield in standard condition and 4.0 t/ha grain yield in medium drought condition but 3.0-3.5 t/ha grain yield in severe drought condition. Grain yield is also not affected by water scarcity during reproductive stage where parch water table depth is more than 70-80 cm from the surface and reduced soil moisture (<20%). Thousand grain weight of the variety is 24 gm, amylose content is 24%. It has long, erect and deep green colored flag leaf. The results indicated that farmers can maximize net profit by cultivating BRRI dhan71 because it required less input, early maturing than existing varieties, drought tolerant and they also get opportunity to cultivate Mustard, Barley, Potato and vegetables after harvesting it. Thus total productivity will be augmented and food security can also be sustained by the cultivation of BRRI dhan71.