Potensi Padi Bukit sebagai Alternatif kepada Padi Sawah

Our country imported rice to sustain demand from the public. In Malaysia 2 types of rice are grown; wetland rice which is widely cultivated while upland rice is cultivated on a smaller scale mostly by farmers in Sabah and Sarawak. Through plant biotechnology, micropropagation method via tissue culture and quantitative breeding traits are able to contribute to research on upland rice in Malaysia. Prior to the establishment of efficient in vitro propagation of upland rice, study on embryogenic callus induction is crucial. Our findings showed that NAA was not suitable for callus induction. Nevertheless, the highest callus induction was observed when cultivars Wai (75%) and Panderas (90%) were cultured on MSB5 media supplemented with 2 mg/L 2,4-D. Furthermore, addition of 20 g/L sorbitol had increased callus induction of 70% and 80% for Wai and Panderas, respectively. In other assessment, comparative study on ex vitro quantitative breeding trait showed that the height of plants without any fertilizer treatment were higher than commercial EM-treated plant. Rice plant treated with EM commercial soil had the shortest height and eventually died. However, rice planted with commercial EM produced the highest number of grains per panicle, shorter maturity period as compared to control.