EVALUATION OF EXOTIC UPLAND RICE GERMPLASM FOR GRAIN YIELD AND ITS COMPONENT CHARACTERS IN RAINFED ECOSYSTEM (ORYZA SATIVA. L)

The present investigation consists of 45 upland rice germplasm provided during 2010 and 2011 at Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agricultural Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, U.P. The experiment was conducted in RBD having three replications. The data were recorded on 12 characters to study the analysis of variance, heritability, genetic advance, coefficient of variation, correlation coefficient and path analysis. Based on the mean performance table IR 82589-B-B-149-4 and IR 82589-B-B-36-2 were identified as best genotype for grain yield. Highly significant variation was obtained for number of spikelets per panicle, plant height, harvest index, biological yield, days to 50% flowering and days to maturity. Seed yield per plant, number of spikelets per panicle, biological yield, flag leaf length and number of tiller per plant showed relatively high GCV and PCV estimates. High heritability was obtained for number of spikelets per panicle (100%), flag leaf width (96%), plant height (93%), biological yield (88%), days to maturity (87%) and days to 50% flowering (84%) which indicates high heritable portion of variation. Characters like number of spikelets per panicle, seed yield per plant, biological yield, flag leaf length and flag leaf width showed high genetic advance as percent of mean, indicating the role of additive gene action and a scope of selection using their phenotypic performance. Number of spikelets per panicle had maximum direct effect and highly significant genotypic correlation coefficient with grain yield. The present study revealed that for increasing rice yield in upland ecology, a genotype should posses more number of spikelets per panicle and more number of tillers per plant.