RICE (Oryza sativa L.) ALLOGAMY AND RELATIONSHIP WITH AGRONOMIC TRAITS

Abstract

Hybrid rice seed production, following the Chinese technique, requires a great amount of hand labor and is expensive. Alternatives to increase the outcrossing rate may help to reduce cost. Embrapa Rice and Beans´ hybrid rice breeding program transferred allogamic traits (anther and stigma lengths) from Oryza longistaminata A. Chev. to the cultivated species Oryza sativa L. The objective of this study was to correlate allogamic and agronomic characters. O. longistaminata was crossed to O. sativa and then backcrossed twice to the cultivated line. Twenty five F3:6-derived lines were produced and correlation studies between allogamic (stigma, anther, and spikelet length) and agronomic traits (panicle length, sterility, shattering, awn length, plant height, tiller per plant, and panicle exsertion) were performed. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications. The trials were sown in two environments within the Embrapa Rice and Beans´ experimental station. In general, there were poor genotypic and phenotypic correlations between allogamic and agronomic traits. Highly significant associations were found between stigma and anther length, stigma and awn length anther and awn length, and panicle length and plant height.

KEY-WORDS: Oryza longistaminata; outcrossing rate; hybrid rice; seed production.