Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), in collaboration with Bank Indonesia’s West Nusa Tenggara branch, held the first harvest of Gadjah Mada Gogo Rancah (Gamagora) 7 rice in Batu Baleq Hamlet, Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Monday (Aug. 12).
According to Taufieq Hidayat, Head of the West Nusa Tenggara Agriculture and Plantation Office, the Gamagora rice developed by UGM was harvested precisely at 90 days.
“The harvest age is exactly 90 days,” he said.
Hidayat added that this rice variety was planted on a plot of 2.5 x 2.5 meters, and the harvest yielded 7.6 kilograms of dry grain, with a production rate of around 12 tons per hectare.
Professor Taryono mentioned that Gamagora has previously been successfully planted in various regions across Indonesia, in addition to Lombok, when contacted by reporters on Monday (Aug. 19).
“Gamagora has been successfully planted in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Central Java, East Java, West Java, Bali, and West Nusa Tenggara,” explained Professor Taryono, the inventor of Gamagora.
The UGM Faculty of Agriculture professor added that a seed provision partnership has been established with PT Tunas Widji Inti Nayottama (TWINN), enabling Gamagora 7 seeds to be planted in larger and more widespread areas across several provinces.
“I hope that Gamagora will continue to develop, gain more interest from farmers, and soon produce other variants of Gamagora,” he stated.
Gamagora is a rice variety developed to address Indonesia’s rice production decline due to global climate change phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña. It also addresses the conversion of rice fields to non-agricultural land, which has reached 96,512 hectares per year.
Named Gamagora 7, this rice boasts high production yields, resistance to brown planthopper pests and diseases, and is amphibious, meaning it can be planted in paddy fields and rainfed lands. Gamagora rice also has a production potential of up to 9.8 tons per hectare.
Author: Leony
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Photo: Antara