Improvement of rice resistance against major pests and diseases in Indonesia

Abstract The sustainability of rice production in Indonesia is increasingly threatened by major insect pests – such as the brown plant hopper and stem borer – and diseases including bacterial leaf blight, blast, and tungro. Cultivating resistant rice varieties remains the most efficient strategy to mitigate these threats. Although many resistant rice varieties have been developed and released for commercial cultivation, their resistance often breaks down after several years of continuous cultivation. This highlights the need for continuous breeding efforts to develop new rice varieties with better resistance using diverse genetic sources. To address this, the Research Center for Food Crops (RCFC) at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) is conducting research aimed at developing new rice varieties with enhanced resistance to insect pests and pathogens for farmer adoption. Resistance genes from donor lines are introgressed into recipient parents through artificial crossing. In 2024, the program generated 36 single-cross and 28 multiple-cross combinations. F1 hybrids were grown in the paddy field in Subang, and selected hybrid populations were advanced to the F2 generation using a modified bulk method. The resulting populations represent a valuable genetic resource for breeding rice varieties with durable resistance to major insect pests and pathogens in Indonesia.