Cross-bred Red Rice

Primera is a cross-bred rice that has a wild parent and a commercial parent. The wild parent of Primera is also a red rice, but low-yielding while the commercial parent of Primera is high-yielding but a white rice. Being a generation of mixed parentage, Primera has inherited its red colour and high-yielding aspect, one from each of its parent. In the past, red rice varieties were not a crop of interest to farmers because they did not have the potential to produce the quantity of yields that return the investment of time, energy and money spent by the farmers. However, whatever red rice varieties that grew were harvested and consumed by local communities for their health benefits due to their antioxidant capacity. Now, the market of red rice is enlarging. The new red rice varieties with the desirable trait of high-yielding capacity has been produced in countries such as Thailand, Camargue and Bhutan. Now, Malaysia has emerged in the market of rice by introducing Primera with its unique characteristic of being the lowest Gycemic Index (GI) rice.