Bayer BioScience launches new rice hybrid

Bayer BioScience Private Limited, a company of Bayer CropScience group of Germany, has launched a new rice hybrid 'Arize Dhani', which offers higher resistance bacterial leaf blight (BLB) disease.

According to Bayer BioScience India head Mahesh Kumar Giridhar, BLB afflicts rice plant in any of its growing stages and cause wilting of seedlings, yellowing and drying of leaves leading up to 60 per cent loss in yield. In India, BLB affects about 7 million hectares of rice fields. Bayer stated in a press release that Arize Dhani was being introduced in the states of Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh where BLB was a major problem.