Selection of Rice Lines Using SPGP Seedling Method for Direct Seeding

Abstract

Lodging is a major cause of yield loss in the rice production systems using direct seeding. In this study, several characteristics of 80 F₄ breeding lines and 10 check cultivars were examined in connection with lodging resistance to establish a technique suitable for screening a large number of lines efficiently for breeding rice for direct seeding. Experiments were conducted over a 2-year period in puddled wet-fields and in seed pack growth pouches (SPGP). Among the root parameters of SPGP seedlings, only root thickness had a significant positive correlation (r = 0.495**) with pushing resistance, which is the force to bend rice culm to a designated angle and is correlated with lodging resistance. The root thickness of SPGP seedlings was also positively correlated with root thickness in the field at 18 (r = 0.346**) and 30 (r = 0.512**) days after seeding. For selected lines and check cultivars, positive correlations were found between pushing resistance and culm thickness in the field (r = 0.809**), between pushing resistance and root thickness in SPGP (r = 0.694**). Culm length and panicle number were negatively correlated with pushing resistance (r=–0.454**, r=–0.563**, respectively). Among the characteristics related to lodging, root and culm thickness were higher in selected breeding lines than in check cultivars. Grain yield was positively correlated with panicle weight (r = 0.601**) and harvest index (r = 0.586**) but not with panicle number (r=–0.007ns). Thus the low-tillering, panicle-weight type plants with thick roots and culms seem to be suitable for direct seeding. Some promising lines and candidate parental lines for the next crossing cycle for direct seeding were identified.