New Delhi, July 12: The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines is set to establish a South Asian Regional Centre in Varanasi that crop scientists say will help improve the yield and quality of rice mainly for eastern Indian states.

The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved the establishment of the IRRI's regional centre to be hosted at the National Seed Research and Training Centre, a government laboratory in Varanasi, and expected to be commissioned within six months.

Indian rice research scientists say the new centre will elevate collaboration with the IRRI that dates back to the 1960s when it worked with Indian scientists to develop IR8, a rice variety with nearly double the yield used in the country then.

"The IR8 variety was called miracle rice - it set off the green revolution in rice in India," said Himanshu Pathak, director of the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha. The IR8 yield was about eight tonnes per hectare compared with about three tonnes available from varieties used across India then.

The IR8 was a semi-dwarf variety, Pathak said, and different from the rice varieties cultivated in India during the 1960s that were tall, low-yielding, and were not responsive to fertilisers. Its introduction and rice breeding efforts since then have allowed the country to steadily raise production.

Many crop scientists believe the next big jump in rice production in the country is likely to be driven by increasing per hectare yields in the eastern states where the current average production is lower than in other parts of the country.

The Varanasi centre will work on special rice varieties to further improve the per hectare yields of rice and improve its nutrition content through modern plant breeding strategies and on post-harvesting activities to reduce wastage, add value and generate higher in come for farmers.

"We're hoping to get new rice varieties rich in iron and zinc," said Jeet Singh Sandhu, deputy director-general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, a member of the coordination committee of the proposed centre.

"This will be through conventional breeding - our own scientists are already engaged in efforts to improve the nutritional value of rice. Some varieties rich in protein and zinc have been developed," Sandhu said.

Senior officials in the Indian Council of Agricultural Research expect the regional centre to focus on rice varieties for use by farmers in eastern India as well as in South Asian and African countries.

"The average per hectare rice yield in many places in eastern India is significantly lower than in the north-western states," said Arvind Nath Singh, director of the National Seed Research and Training Centre that will host the laboratories and infrastructure for the regional centre.

The IRRI is a member of a consortium of international agricultural research centres engaged in improving food security worldwide. Other consortium members are involved in maize, wheat, potato, semi-arid crops, aquatic resources, food policy and forestry.